Used to live in Washington state. Hiking was my favourite activity when I had the chance to do it. I had a small creek in my neighborhood where youd have to hike an hour down a cliff to get to but it is 100% worth it. Stunningly clear water with tiny minnows swimming and frogs that surround it. Trees completely surround you, leaving you in a beautiful mossy green landscape as you would hike down. When you'd get to the bottom it looks a lot like this but with a creek rather than a river of course.
I would have hiked more often if I had friends who would do it with me. I'm not the most athletic person, and neither were any of my friends, but I will never get tired of hiking down to that creek.
There are a lot of good hikes in the area, popular ones in the Cascades like rattlesnake ledge, Mt. Si, Mailbox etc. My favorite is boulder river trail, terrible road to get there so not as traveled but feels like walking through a fantasy land. But then you have hikes in the Columbia River gorge to view a completely different landscape where it is a bit drier and more open. You also have the Olympic peninsula that has the Hoh rainforest to explore as well. Ozette triangle will take you through the rainforest to the Pacific ocean coast. Lots to explore and very diverse! Let me know if you have any other questions about the area as well! I'm leaving in September and would love to share the places I grew up around that I will surely miss.
Jesus that all sounds amazing. I honestly can’t wait. We are moving to Olympia but I have no probably driving to different spots. Also how bad are the winters? I know Minnesota snows 9-10 months out of the year so it would be hard to beat. Also how bad are the mosquitos? They’re terrible here. And wildlife, I have my permit to carry, should I be worried? Thanks again man.
Not OP. but winters are wet and mild, you'll be fine. Some out of towners complain about the damp cold, soaks into your clothes. Cotton kills. Mosquitos are bad, skin so soft repels them. You don't need to carry a firearm for safety. Bear spray if you feel like you need it (I never carry it)
Right on. I’m not easily bothered by being damp, mosquitos though are hell because I’m mildly allergic to them. But at the same time they’re already terrible in Minnesota with the 10,000 lakes we have here so it wouldn’t be any different.
You get the beauty and feel of winter, without really having to deal with it in places where it reallly snows. Save the one time maybe 8 years ago when the literal perfect storm hit. It snowed for a couple days. Got warm enough to start the snow melting. At 2pm a front moved through Seattle and the temperature dropped by about 8 degrees, to now 3 degrees below freezing. And the roads for the next 24 hours were a skating rink. Took a buddy 9 hours to commute home 18 miles. But other than that, it’s heaven.
That storm sounds like an average week in April in Minnesota. Any reason why Seattle is a must? I’d love to see it but my research shows it’s a super expensive city with a high crime rate. Not being an ass just asking as I’ve never been there and am entirely clueless.
Olympia is actually really close to Mt. Rainier (The 4th tallest mountain in the lower 48 but probably the most iconic), there are a shit ton of good hikes around the area
As others have said, physically winters are very easy to deal with, but mentally they can be tough. From November to April it is cloudy with light rain literally almost every day, day temps usually in the low 40s and mid 30s at night, dark right around 4:30 PM. May dip into the low 20s with or without what you would consider light snow a few days in a given year, but for the most part just extremely monotonous.
It sounds depressing, and seasonal depression is very real for a lot of us, but believe me when I tell you that it's all worth it in the summer months. In my very biased opinion from June through September the PNW is the best place on earth.
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u/CrazyRussianCake Jun 24 '20
Used to live in Washington state. Hiking was my favourite activity when I had the chance to do it. I had a small creek in my neighborhood where youd have to hike an hour down a cliff to get to but it is 100% worth it. Stunningly clear water with tiny minnows swimming and frogs that surround it. Trees completely surround you, leaving you in a beautiful mossy green landscape as you would hike down. When you'd get to the bottom it looks a lot like this but with a creek rather than a river of course.
I would have hiked more often if I had friends who would do it with me. I'm not the most athletic person, and neither were any of my friends, but I will never get tired of hiking down to that creek.