TrailsNW

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Greetings; I am looking for a 3 day backpacking trip starting July 14. Our son is getting married in Portland on the 13th; and two of our guests are staying to backpack with us. We have been planning to do White to Chinook Pass on the PCT, however Mother Nature has not been cooperative! We are wanting to show our friends from New England the wonderful hiking we have here. We are thinking of the St. Helens area. Any suggestions? So much is still not open. The ranger said that the Mt. Margaret area is open..also the Siouxon trail. I am wanting to show them 1) wildflowers 2) mountain lakes. 3) views of the larger mts. 4) Around 20 miles or so. We leave Monday and must be in Seattle Wednesday afternoon. I have been reading about trails in the Mt. Margaret area; and people keep talking about trails being poorly maintained, and one description of one trail made me wonder. We are used to have the PCT data book with us. We are very open to suggestions. Thanks you very much. Jan Ellis

I'll try to see if I can find the time to look into this a little bit more, but a few areas to look into additionally: Indian Heaven Wilderness - probably has lesser amounts of snow since it is further east and fairly low in elevation. Views of Mt. Adams, St. Helens. Badger Creek - I was able to get up to 5,000' a few weeks back with no snow...just make sure to lead them up a trail with a view of Mt. Hood. May be a good option to show a variety of landscapes if you can find a good loop trip (high desert, forest, canyons, mountain views) Mt. Adams - May have lesser amounts of snow since it is further east. Goat Rocks - In my opinion, the best hiking within a few hours of Portland. I'm not sure the snow conditions there, but it is further east as well so there may be less snow. Some of the trails in the south are a little lower in elevation and would be spectacular from someone from back east (or from the west!) Also, for good snow information, check out the snotel sites: http://www.or.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/maps/oregon sitemap.html http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/Washington/washington.html