[pct-l] Best time to hike washington

[Jo Pegrum Hazelett]

I would add to the comments below that it is best to be prepared for rain
and snow no matter when you go. As section hikers, my husband and I chose to
do each half of Washington in the middle 2 weeks of August. We were told by
lots of people, especially Washingtonians that it was our best shot at
staying dry and avoiding most of the mosquitoes. On both trips (in 2
separate years) we had rain and or the famous Northwest drizzle which just
soaks you to the skin. On August 21, 2008 I have photos of us in an all out
blizzard! So, go prepared! (We also had some great weather, but Washington
is not Southern California!).

 

Jo (PCT 08)

http://postholer.com/jo

 

 

Message: 1

Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:21:04 -0700

From: Brian Lewis <brianle8 at gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [pct-l] Best time to hike washington

To: pct-l at backcountry.net

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            <bd5c16ca0904290721t95f6877vd19779c9d357f0a1 at mail.gmail.com>

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 Jalan jalan asked when it's best to hike Washington, and Dicentra replied:

"July 5th through early/mid September sometime", and she went on to add that
there are two seasons in Seattle ... "August and Rain."

 

For reasonable (not too much snow) backpacking times of year I would
generally agree with the above, with a caveat about bugs.  Along the PCT in
WA state my general rule of thumb is that July is buggy and August &
September are nice (with the latter getting a bit colder and of course
decreasing length of daylight).  August is generally a great time to get
huckleberries and wild blueberries too.  Of course this is approximate, and
this stuff varies by the year --- snow melted later than usual last year,
which impacted both of these factors.

 

Two years ago I did a fair bit of hiking in July, and what I found was that
in places I enjoy hiking in August there were a lot of pools and mostly
melted snow around, perfect breeding grounds for the mosquitos that were all

about me.   You can get some great wildflowers in July, however, and I'm not

suggesting that all of WA state is a continuous bug feeding frenzy for the
entire month, but all things being equal --- pick August.

 

 

Brian Lewis / Gadget '08

http://postholer.com/brianle