Looking for a good backpacking location

[knote72]

That's not far. The only area closer early season (June) is in the Gorge.

We're down out of the Eugene area, distance-wise it is further away

[retired jerry]

In June you should be able to drive over Government Camp, about 100 miles

A little further through the Dalles in the winter when there's snow

[teachpdx]

I definitely concur with Badger Creek.

Drive the extra few miles, avoid the permit fia$co around Mt. Jeff, and hike miles of beautiful trails with very few people around. In June some of the higher areas (Gunsight Butte / Lookout Mountain / Flag Point) may still have some snow but should be navigable (depending on how the snowpack shakes out this year).

[adamschneider]

I'd suggest the Western Cascades (between Highway 20 and Highway 58), but I don't know if there are any lakes in there.

[BigBear]

I find it interesting that the request is for a backpacking location in the Cascades with "not a whole lot of traffic" given the Fore$t $ervice plan to limit such activity this year due to the congestion in the Cascades.

The other stipulation is that it be in June which this year is shaping up to be a heavy snow year after a slow start. The peak snow level in the Cascades is typically May 1st. June will have snowbound trails and July will have mosquitoes.

The 4 or 5 days of hiking is also an interesting limitation given the small size of the wilderness areas around Portland. This consideration would lead me to the Wallowas (think August) or Peshastin up north.

I would recommend using Douglas Lorain's Backpacking in Oregon and Backpacking in Washington if you are seeking these longer trips.

[adamschneider]

The peak snow level in the Cascades is typically May 1st.

I've always heard April 1... but it's probably highly dependent on both latitude and altitude.

[knote72]

I find it interesting that the request is for a backpacking location in the Cascades with "not a whole lot of traffic" given the Fore$t $ervice plan to limit such activity this year due to the congestion in the Cascades.

The other stipulation is that it be in June which this year is shaping up to be a heavy snow year after a slow start. The peak snow level in the Cascades is typically May 1st. June will have snowbound trails and July will have mosquitoes.

The 4 or 5 days of hiking is also an interesting limitation given the small size of the wilderness areas around Portland. This consideration would lead me to the Wallowas (think August) or Peshastin up north.

I would recommend using Douglas Lorain's Backpacking in Oregon and Backpacking in Washington if you are seeking these longer trips.

Well the travel range is different for me because I'm from the Eugene area and not Portland. My friends aren't comfortable going across most of the state, a couple hours drive is about the best I can get them to do, which is why I'm looking in this area (around hwy 20, hwy 126, or hwy 58). And we'll mainly be looking for areas with a decent cluster of trails, so that we can knock out a trail or two each day (the 4 or 5 days is to have a decent getaway, we weren't planning on hiking some huge length of trail for 5 days straight). That's why I was liking the Olallie area

[Webfoot]

Forum error? I wasn't replying to this post.

[drm]

FYI - The Mt Hood area is at 90% of average and we are in a warm period. The recent snowy week just got up to about average, and it is already a bit below. Other Oregon Cascades snow basins are in the 90s%. The east is slightly above average. In recent years we seem to get a warm and dry spring month and I expect we will again have an early melt out compared to what we were used to from years ago. But that means that we will be fairly snow-free in July. Note that an early melt-off can still mean high creek flows and difficult crossings in June on any route that has unbridged crossings.

Washington is about the same, mostly ranging from 90-100% of normal.

[adamschneider]