7 Days in Washington (Seattle) – What next?

Late October in the WA mountains – it could be fine weather, but pretty good chance of lots of rain and snow that time of year too. Each year is different – last year we had no Fall at all (winter began after September). Year before that was great, snow-free hiking into mid October. I’ve also seen 2 feet of snow in early October – it’s a crap shoot that time of year. Best to make conservative plans, be willing to change or adapt plans as needed at the last minute, and have appropriate shoulder season gear and cold weather skills to deal with extended cool, wet and maybe snowy conditions.

One approach would be two or three shorter backpack trips or some nice day hikes. If the forecast looks good, then have a plan for a longer trip if you want to roll the weather dice. If forecast looks cold and wet, then shorter and/or lower altitudes are a good option, such as the Olympic coast (day hike or short overnighter), or hikes in the rain forest or lower altitude valleys. If there is not much snow pack yet, and the forecast looks good, then you have more options in the higher mountains too.

Re: food caching – check with the land manager (call the local National Forest office, National Park, etc) you want to visit, but usually that’s a no-no. Either carry your food for the trip or arrange shipping a resupply package. Some areas require bear canisters as well (like the Olympic Coast), so be sure to check with the land manager in question.

There are LOTS of excellent and varied hiking and backpacking options in WA to choose from. You could pick one area and pretty much find whatever type of hike the weather, your skills and your preferences allow. Mt. Rainier NP is one example (long backpacks to short day hikes of varying altitudes). Olympic National Park is another example (coastal hikes, low forest valleys, high alpine ridges if the roads are open, etc, etc).

Thanks for that, Lester! I thought of the multi-trip approach a few times, I’ll work that into the plans. Do you know of any websites to look for trails to plan loops? Or a good map resource? Also, do you have favorite longer/short trails that you would recommend?

I’ll call the park offices to ask about mailing resupplies.

Too many options to choose from – could spend a lifetime exploring WA’s mountains, valleys and shores. You could check out some guidebooks and maps for ideas. Some very popular ideas include the Wonderland trail (or portions thereof), section hikes on the WA PCT, section hikes of the Olympic Coast and out-and-back hikes of various length from popular highway passes. For example, Snoqualmie Pass, Stevens Pass, Rainy Pass, White Pass and Chinook Passes all have excellent, popular day hikes and multi-day out-and-backs and loops hikes to choose from.

Here are some good links on trip reports:

Recent trail condition reports, searchable by area and sub-area:
http://www.wta.org/go-outside/trip-reports

Trip reports for state:
http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=3

Caltopo online maps (the MapBuilder Topo layer is nice for trail overviews):
http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=47.5375,-122.26922&z=9&b=mbt

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You have many options here in the PNW but I would caution starting any multi day, high elevation Cascades trail that late in the season which doesn’t provide multiple egress options.

Unfortunately this includes some of the most fantasticly long and wild PCT sections easily accessible from Stevens and Snoqualmie passes and doable using just public transportation.

You still have plenty of memorable options such as the Loowit trail circumnavigating Mt. St. Helens (3 days), Goat Rocks wilderness / Snowgrass flats loop (overnighter), and the Pacific coast at Hole-in-the- Wall to Cape Alava (1-5 days). All of these are classics and within 3 – 5 hours striking distance from Seatac.

While snow flurries and cold nights are common after September, any time into October increases the likelihood of sudden onset winter storms in the Cascades. Make sure your rain gear is dialed in.

Have fun and enjoy the fall colors!

Thanks, Alexander! Yeah, I’m pretty set on the short/multi-trip option for this. I’ll look into those hikes.

For rain gear, I have the REI Talusphere pants and Martmot Precip to go on top of layers. I think those should suffice.

I wouldn’t trust my old Marmot Precip to keep my dry in the PNW shoulder season.  Make sure you have fresh DWR on it and bring a mid-layer fleece.  I prefer non-DWR jackets or ponchos for our wet seasons.

Good point, Paul. Thanks! Any tips on public transportation between the airport and various trailheads? Thinking that renting a car will probably be easiest.

http://www.backpackingbybus.com/

Some of these areas are accessible by just public transportation. The icicle ridge trail (42 miles) goes from just south of Steven’s pass to Leavenworth WA. (This is a lone, challenging trail with some unmaintained areas and route finding issues). Greyhound out, Trailways bus back in.

Wow, that website is great. I didn’t see that in my search. Have you done the Icicle Ridge Trail? Sounds….cold?

It is only named Icicle Ridge. I did it a few years back. It is very challenging and fun if you are looking for a real adventure.

There are sections which require some care in route finding and some with no trail at all. You get to witness the transition of Western evergreens to Eastern WA scrub and desert. The views are fantastic and you can see the flats of Eastern WA towards the last leg. This is not a beginner hike. It was hard and a real challenge.

Decided to rent a car and hop to a few trailheads throughout the week. Looking at a day hike to Hurricane Hill, overnights to Dodger Point via Long Ridge (2 nights), Grand Valley (2 nights), Cape Alava (one night), a small loop near North Fork (one night).

Snagged a Mammut Wenaha gore-tex jacket from REI to update the rain jacket. 15oz, but it matched the price point