[pct-l] Chinook Pass to Snoqualmie Pass: How ugly is it?

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I found this section to be sort of a low point but I think mostly  
that's because it had been raining since I entered Washington and I  
was just sick of being soaking wet. It was very overgrown. Sometimes  
I couldn't see the trail. There were lots of huckleberries. There  
were a fair amount of ugly areas with power lines and clear cuts. You  
would walk through gorgeous forest for a while, then emerge into an  
ugly clear-cut in various stages of growing back. The last part  
toward Snoqualmie was full of roots and ruts and it hurt my aching  
feet. But there were some pretty lakes and I could hear a huge herd  
of elk when I was sleeping in my tent and then I saw huge trails they  
had carved with their hooves in the morning. It's worth doing the  
trip. It is pretty in between the ugly and the boring and the  
overgrown. I'm sure if I went back now I would see more pretty than  
ugly.

On Jul 12, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Some friends and I are considering hiking the northern part of WA  
> Section
> I, from Chinook Pass (Hwy 410) to Snoqualmie Pass (I-90). Then I  
> read the
> Wilderness Press description, which makes it sound like a battle  
> zone where
> you're lucky to find a standing tree, particularly in the last 40  
> miles or
> so south of Snoqualmie. That was written several years ago, of  
> course, and
> I know that some timber activities have subsequently ceased and the  
> trail
> re-routed in some places.
>
> So to those of you who've hiked the area recently (i.e., in the  
> last couple
> of years): If you had only a week to hike this year, would you even
> consider going to this industrial wasteland? Or is it better now?
>
> (How did we pick this section for consideration? Easy  
> transportation from
> friends in the area--but they don't know backcountry conditions.)
>
> Thanks,
> Carl
> 1977 Kelty Kid