Two night backpack trip in Indian Heaven Wilderness, with day hikes to Lemei Rock and the Lakes Basin
Deep in the heart of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, this five day trip to the Lakes Basin was scenery packed – with granite boulders and slabs, alpine lakes and meadows scattered throughout and surrounded by peaks.
On my first backpacking trip at Mount Adams, we camped at Killen Creek and did day hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail. There were meadows full of wildflowers, views of nearby peaks, waterfalls and scenic lakes, and plenty of swarming mosquitoes.
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.
Cascade Pass is a popular area for hiking and backpacking due to stunning scenery of glaciated mountains in the North Cascades. Advance permits are required and well worth the effort to obtain.
On this three night trip during stormy and buggy weather, we camped near Snowgrass Flat and hiked to ice-covered Goat Lake and did a loop hike on the Bypass Trail.
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