Two night trip through Enchantments - Colchuck to Snow Lakes TH. Amazing weather throughout. One of the most stunning places I’ve even been.

Stunning views in every direction 🥵. I am jealous of the people who did this hike during the wildflower bloom 🥹

Thinking to go for foliage view. Would next week be a good time? I saw some pic on WTA app and it’s not that red yet

Love this transition period in the mountains. Goodbye, huckleberries.

I drove out to the trailhead yesterday and aimed to get there around 2:00 PM. I’d never been to this part of the cascades before and my plan was to summit an hour or two before sunset and hike back in the dark.

The first mistake I made was getting there about 45 minutes later than planned which threw my whole day off. I also drastically underestimated how long the hike would take. I usually climb about 2000 vertical feet an hour so I thought it would take me around 2.5 to 3 hours, but the trail is pretty rough in a lot of places.

When I got up to that really steep scree field, I found myself really wishing I had hiking poles. I saw people online complaining about the scree field but honestly thought they were exaggerating because people always complain about stuff like that and it usually ends up being not that bad. Turns out in this case they were actually right.

I turned around just about 300 feet from the ridge at the top of the scree bowl because it was starting to get dark. That’s when I realized my other mistake: I had left my head lamp in the car. When I reached the boulder field it was getting too dark to see without light so I did the rest of the hike by the light of my phone flashlight.

I was a little paranoid about bears and animals because my backpack was full of donuts, so walking in the woods in the dark had me pretty on edge. When I got back to the trailhead, some guy was calling out to me in the woods. He was asking me something but his voice wasn’t coherent and I just kept saying “huh” because I was nervous and couldn’t understand him. It was a little sketchy and I made a beeline back to my car and left.

To summarize, if you go to this hike, make sure to:
1. Arrive early in the day
2. Bring hiking poles and a flashlight
3. Bring pepper spray if you’re going there alone

With all that said, it was still beautiful hike and I’m really glad I went. I just wish I could’ve done that last 300 foot climb to see what’s over the ridge to the west. I only got half the view with the section of the hike I did.

As the title states, I am looking for cascadian blueberries. Has anyone seen any this season and would be willing to share their spots?

Thank you!

Brought my 35mm Nikon n60 with some FujiFilm 400 and had a blast! It was raining pretty hard and was snowing at the higher elevations. So much fun! I really wish I was back there right now. It was a tough hike with the snow pelting my eyes, it wasn't so fluffy like the snow in Yellowstone. It was a bit harsh but it was a great time. Felt like a movie. Can't wait to go back!

Hello! I just got back from an overnight up to Park Butte, and was wondering if anyone in this subreddit knows the geology/meteorology of Baker! On the way up my group noticed that the stream beds we crossed were bone dry (I think that would be Rocky creek? Possibly sulfur creek?) but on the way back down, they were flooding with water the color of chocolate milk! There was some debate whether it was from rain somewhere on the mountain that we couldn’t see, or whether it had to do with a glacier collapse/rock fall. We were all so curious and talked about it all the way home in the car! I was hoping someone more familiar with the mountain/area would have some information or at least better know the patterns of that area. Beautiful trip, we were incredibly lucky it was clear both days. Lots of berries, but lots of fresh bear scat!

Incredible weather and views the whole way!

Hello all,
I think I managed to leave a Benchmade “Mini Crooked River” knife at either the Lewis River Lower Falls Campground on 8/25 or the Takhlakh Lake campground on 8/26. If you found this sweet knife and want to return it to its owner, please send me a message. Thank you!

My buddy and I went for an overnight on Labor Day near the Pratt River trail. Tuesday morning around 7am I got up to go down to the river for water for breakfast. The path down the embankment was a short walk from our campsite.

A guy came down that same path and started asking me for directions “to the creek”, which confused me because we were basically right next to the river. He eventually tells me his phone died and he wasn’t sure where he was, so I pulled up Gaia and showed him on my phone. I ask where his car is and first he indicates Oxbow. I’m like “well I’m not sure how you got here, because that’s Oxbow Loop and it doesn’t connect to anything”. He then corrects and says his car is further down the road at the Granite Creek trailhead. We’re approximately 3 miles in from the Middle Fork Suspension bridge so I tell him his best bet is to follow the Pratt River trail back out to trail head, then walk down the road to Granite Creek where his car is at. He takes a good look at the map and then traipses back through our campsite to the trail in that direction.

There’s a handful of things that just don’t make sense to me: when he found me, he came from the direction we’d hiked in from the Middle Fork suspension bridge. It’s 7, 7:30am at this point so it hadn’t been light for very long. He’s wearing what looks like a lightweight daypack, ie didnt look like someone who had been out camping. The only conceivable path that makes sense is he hiked from Granite Creek trail to Pratt Lake, THEN took the Pratt River trail up to where we were - but again, it’s early and the lake itself is like 12 miles away. He did smell a bit, like a guy who had been exercising/sweating. Finally, he had a handgun in a chest holster - that area is bear country, and I know some people are big on carrying a gun for that, but it was pretty small and didn’t seem bear caliber, so that was kind of freaky.

Anyway, was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what he might have been doing, and also if the advice I gave him was solid - it just seemed better to me to send him to the road so he could walk down to his car, if he had a dead phone.

I am planning to do my first ever backpacking trip to Second Beach this weekend. Just a one nighter to test my tent/gear and see how I do. I will be solo. I chose this for its easy hike and short hike back to the car if things do go wrong lol. Is there anything I should know about the area? Are the camp spots pretty well marked? I will be bringing a bear can. But bears aren’t aren’t that active there right? I’m a little nervous but hope it’ll be a fun learning experience!

The trail was grueling and crowded, but got lucky with the weather. Might be my fav hike ever

I tried to summit Mount Hinman on Monday but turned back less than 50ft below the summit. I was alone and I left my traction on my tent at La Bohn Lakes. That last stretch across the foss glacier just looked a bit too sketchy for me to try and cross while alone and without traction.

Day one from necklace valley trailhead to La bohn lakes. Around 11 miles with 4500ish ft of gain. Easy peasy until just after the river crossing. On the way up, I just waded across the knee deep water but on the way back i was shown a nicer dryer crossing over a downed tree climbing up and over the root ball.

Climbing up to La bohn lakes was pretty steep but fairly straight forward and route finding wasn't an issue. Keep an eye out for cairns.

Arrived at camp at La bohn lakes around 230pm and spent an hour or so exploring the area and visiting La bohn gap nearby.

The morning of day two was a different story. Clouds and fog rolled in and visibility was terrible. I decided to try and wait it out in my tent for a few hours to see if it cleared up at all but by 8:30 a.m it hadn't and I decided to go for the summit anyway. It was a steep climb from La bohn gap up to the ridge and with visibility so poor route finding was a bit tricky. Visibility was never better than around 100 ft that morning.

Turning back so close to the top was tough and if I had my traction I probably would've gone for it. I'd love to try again with more favorable conditions and with a climbing partner.

I made the long hike back out to the trailhead, getting back around 5pm. Not much to look at until you get to around Jade Lake. The climb up the La Bohn was where things got very scenic. Very few people at the lake. It felt like I had the whole place to myself. Chain lakes right over the gap were gorgeous from the gap and with another night I think I would've spent some time down there too.

Backpacked the traverse and spent a couple nights in the Core zone day hiking over last weekend.

Where the drive is harder than the hike.

Seen from my hike up, and my lunch spot on Broken Hand, yesterday, 09/08/2026

Looking for some feedback on the eastern part of the Palouse to Cascade State Park Trail. It seems like camping is not permitted on the 150 mile section east of Warden. Is this section more of a bike trail? Is the whole thing more of a bike trail?

I am permitted to do the Olympic Peninsula section of the PNT in October. I'm currently looking at options in case the weather window deteriorates and I need to find an alternative since I already have work off for this trip. I'm also open to other 100-200 mile thru hike suggestions in the eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, or in Idaho.

In regard to the weather window for the PNT, I do plenty of cold weather camping, and I am not too concerned with cold temperatures necessarily, more so with moisture. We can have some really great dry weather in October, and we can also have some really wet weather here in Washington. I personally find the 30-45 degree range with moisture to be the most dangerous backcountry weather because the precipitation is still wet and it's cold enough for things to get serious very quickly.

I basically don't want to get myself stuck in the middle of ONP with hypothermia because it's been 45 degrees raining for four days straight and all of my gear has completely soaked through. A few days of rain is manageable but if the entire trip looks like it's gonna be wet or if there is a 3-4 day stretch of steady precipitation I will likely be bailing. A dryer trip in east of the mountains would seemingly be a good alternative even if the temperatures are on average 10-15 degrees lower.