Best Day of the Week to Hike

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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aiwetir
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Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by aiwetir » November 17th, 2022, 8:33 am

I decided I'm going to take a day off of work each month to hike and I'm wondering if there's any opinions (or data) on the weekday with the least crowds. I'm already thinking Friday isn't going to be great as I don't get up too early and people will be starting weekends early.
- Michael

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adamschneider
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by adamschneider » November 17th, 2022, 8:35 am

Every year they post statistics for the Mount Whitney permit lottery that show which days were the most requested. See if the Central Cascades permit program has similar data available.

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retired jerry
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by retired jerry » November 17th, 2022, 8:59 am

just from being out there

yeah, not Friday. (or holiday).

maybe Monday there are more people delaying going home from the weekend

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lordgares
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by lordgares » November 17th, 2022, 9:25 am

Before I changed jobs a couple of years ago and ended up with weekends off I used to have Wednesday/Thursdays off which were great for hiking. Even relatively busy hikes like Dog Mountain and Coyote Wall/Catherine Creek weren't too terrible during mid-week.
Last edited by lordgares on November 17th, 2022, 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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aiwetir
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by aiwetir » November 17th, 2022, 9:53 am

I used to hike on Tuesdays and there were pretty great. I suppose Tuesday-Thursday are probably fine, I just was curious if there might be like some strange phenomenon where everyone goes out on a certain day.
- Michael

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adamschneider
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by adamschneider » November 17th, 2022, 9:57 am

I'm guessing Mondays wouldn't be too bad either, and then you'd have the flexibility of a long weekend if you wanted to go farther afield.

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jdemott
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by jdemott » November 17th, 2022, 11:22 am

I've been retired for a number of years and I basically hike only on weekdays. I can't say that there is any obvious pattern to figuring which days will be busy and which will not. I don't avoid any of the days Monday through Friday--they're all better than the weekends. In the summer, the most popular trails (e.g., Eagle Creek) are always busy. If you are really concerned about finding uncrowded trails, you can check the school calendar--teacher work days generally fall on Fridays or Mondays and you will find a few more families on the trail when school is closed. There are also various group hikes led by Parks and Rec departments and by Friends of the Gorge and similar organizations which can bring some crowding. Again the solution would be to check the calendars. But I don't worry about it.

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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by Aimless » November 17th, 2022, 11:44 am

Any day mid-week (Tue, Wed, Thu) should be fine. If you need a rationale for choosing one in particular I will offer you this one. Most mid-week hikers are retirees. Retirees like to grocery shop on days with senior discounts. In my neighborhood, that would be Wednesdays. I have no idea if Wednesdays are truly the least crowded, but you won't go wrong if that's which day you choose. :)

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aiwetir
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by aiwetir » November 17th, 2022, 3:37 pm

Hard choices here, have to deal with kids or retired folks :lol:
- Michael

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aiwetir
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Re: Best Day of the Week to Hike

Post by aiwetir » November 18th, 2022, 10:52 am

adamschneider wrote:
November 17th, 2022, 8:35 am
Every year they post statistics for the Mount Whitney permit lottery that show which days were the most requested. See if the Central Cascades permit program has similar data available.
USFS CCWP wrote:Days of the week in order of highest demand/use

Saturday
Friday
Sunday
Thursday
Monday
Tuesday*
Wednesday*
*essentially a tie
That was easy :D
- Michael

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