Oregon Hikers

So on the topic of Mount St. Helens permit—am I correct in understanding there are zero same-day, first-come, first-served permits available? If so, that is lame and ridiculous. Many backcountry permit areas offer a percentage of daily permits online in advance but set aside a smaller percentage ava...

Since posting the above, I found one trip report from someone two days ago who summited but said they had to do a 3.5-mile road walk each way. Bleh. LOL Apparently the road is pretty muddy from Morrison Creek Camp to Cold Spring. It's still tempting to do despite the snow being slushy—just because w...

Hi All: A friend and I were planning a summit attempt on Mt. Shasta this weekend but opted out due to an unsettled weather forecast. Then we thought "Hey! Let's do Mount St. Helens!" But then...no permits til June 1. So that's out. Now we're wondering about Mt. Adams? Any current info on the south/L...

Hi Everyone—just a quick update that our GIS and trail information specialists (at PCTA) did some more data-gathering and came up with a number of passes for the PCT! We tabulated all named passes, gaps and similar features that you visit while traversing the PCT—the final number was 119. :lol: We'l...

Great discussion everyone—thanks! I agree with what everyone is saying, particularly that "major" passes tend to be: • more-or-less perpendicular to the trail • valley-to-valley • involve a challenging climb up to a high point with a view, then back down And I think (just a guess) that most passes t...

Thanks Aimless. I don't disagree. Though I'm curious now to go back and look at the criteria for prominence. Because I'm wondering if there aren't at least a few that are purely arbitrary there as well. Wikipedia's definition of prominence says it "measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit ...

Technical Trivia Topic Here! I work for the Pacific Crest Trail Association, and for a long time we've wrestled with a particular metric we've always been dubious of: How many "major mountain passes" does the PCT cross? At some point in the past, someone came up with the numbers 50, 57, and 60. We h...

I'm looking for alternatives to something like Joe's Ultralight Moose Goo —high energy foods for the trail that are cheap and easy to make. I don't mind Moose Goo, just looking for more! I'm healthy and have all my teeth...but I prefer stuff I can just suck down fast without having to chew . I've tr...

My point is this: more people, more disperse ideas on how to recreate, and less concern for those around them. The result is over-crowded trailheads and user conflict on the trail. For me, it's just not fun anymore to hike to the beauty spots. Limiting hikers isn't really the answer because people ...

OP here—thanks for all the good and civil replies (despite things heading off into a state-by-state analysis of Covid prevention strategies). I'm sensitive to the prospect of being called an elitist because I have a certain idea of how people should recreate in *relatively* wild places ("relatively"...