philsbert1

We are a small group planning a trip to Washington in early August 2011. We have 8 days, 7 nights. We are trying to work up an itinerary to include day hikes in N. Cascade NP and maybe a couple days by the ocean in San Juan Islands. One itinerary we had seen online had 2 nights in Concrete at Ovenell's Ranch, 2 nights in Winthrop at River's Edge Resort, 2 nights around Diablo Lake and then return to Seattle. Hikes included Maple Pass, part of the Pacific Crest, Thunder Creek and Cascade Pass.
Another itinerary had two nights at Marblemount, 2 at Mazama, and 2 at Chelan. Another spot that looked neat was Stehekin, though it seems like it would take a fair amount of time getting there and back by boat, and we only have the 8 days.
We are primarily looking for scenic day hikes, and maybe some low key bicycling, beach walking. We don't need fancy lodging, but needs to be clean. Any suggestions re itinerary, great hikes, or great places to stay would be appreciated. We have yet to find any vacancies along the coast. Thanks!

spirobulldog

I haven't been to North Cascades. But I thought it would be neat to hike the pass all the way to Cottonwood Campground(they have tents already set up for you there- you can rent them from one of the stehekin places), then hike to Stehekin the next day. This would be easy to do if you had multiple vehicles. You could either take the boat out or the airplane. It would require some planning, but would be good. I really want to hike Cascade Pass sometime.

philsbert1

We will only have one vehicle, and plan on doing day hikes...anything up to 8 miles or so, depending on altitude gained.

Clousie

Haven't been there for a while, but I'd certainly do Stehekin over Chelan.

We stayed at Diablo Resort. Took the boat to Ross Lake and hiked back. Next day hiked at Maple Pass (loved it!) on way to Chelan. We stayed overnight there before going to Stekin, but now I believe there's a fast boat that perhaps you could catch the same day.

At Stehekin, you can take a bus to various trail heads, especially good if everyone isn't on the same hiking level. You'll have a schedule to know when to catch the return bus. We stayed at the National Park Lodge in Stehekin and it was fine. We found Stehekin to be a very relaxing place, especially after the day trippers left with lots of choices for day hiking.

We had two weeks and then traveled on to Mt Rainier and I just had to get some coastal walks in so went to Cannon Beach area. Not looking at a map right now, so perhaps others could give more info, but I think the San Juans may be stretching the 8 days on this trip.

I'm sure someone may be able to give you more current info, but this was our general outline, since you seem to be looking at other planned trips.

OrcasLance

I can't answer for the other locations, but if you need info about Orcas Island, please contact me. I'm the Executive Director and would be happy to send you hiking and trail information about Moran State Park and Turtleback Mountain Preserve. [email protected] or visit www.orcasislandchamber.com

Lance Evans

philsbert1

Thanks all for the info. "Clousie", we also figured we might be pushing it for the coast and the Cascades, but had a similar desire to get some coastal time in. We will have to do limited of each or more of one or the other. We have visited the Olympic peninsula/NP several times and hiked Rainier area twice, though we could go there a hundred times and still see something new. I will peruse the Orcas Island websites you have suggested.