A friend and I wanted to get in one last backpacking trip before the season ended, so we decided to spend two nights at Burnt Lake, located on the west side of Mount Hood.
Two night backpack trip in Indian Heaven Wilderness, with day hikes to Lemei Rock and the Lakes Basin
Five day backpack trip in the Wallowa Mountains / Eagle Cap Wilderness, with hikes to Glacier Lake and around the Lakes Basin
On this three night backpacking trip to Killen Creek on Mount Adams, there were meadows full of wildflowers, views of Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens and Goat Rocks, plenty of swarming mosquitoes, a waterfall at our campsite, and several small lakes nearby.
Washington’s Olympic Coast is a wild coast – with extremely limited access to vast sections of it. About 70 miles of this incredibly scenic coastline is part of the Olympic National Park and accessible to hardy backpackers willing to time their trek at low tide to round headlands, or to use ropes to reach to overland trails.
Located southeast of Mount Hood, Badger Creek Wilderness is in a transition zone on the east side of the Cascade crest with a forest of mixed conifers including Ponderosa pine, western red cedar, and western hemlock. This is a good early season backpacking destination due to the lower elevation and drier conditions.
Backpacking in the winter is quite different from ‘regular’ backpacking. There’s a lot of extra gear needed to dig a base for a tent and stay warm overnight while camping on top of snow. While this was my fourth time backpacking in the winter, it was also my last.
I took two friends on their first winter backpacking trip at the White River SnoPark at Mount Hood. We spent one night and snowshoed up Boy Scout Ridge for great views.
Two night backpacking trip at Burnt Lake, with a day hike to East Zigzag Mountain.
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