My teenage son & his buddies want to do an overnight backpacking trip this week (I'm going too). Did a little fireroading today & was a taken aback a bit at how soon we encountered snow. We're relatively new to the area, so not sure of the local backpacking fair. Our rough criteria for this week is: 5-10 mile hike No snow Camping opportunity Water along the trail No more than 2hrs to trailhead from Seattle Eastside Good views would be nice..... We were looking to try Snoqualmie Lake hike, but buddy says it's frozen until late June :eek1. We'd probably encounter snow enroute as well, correct? Anyway, if there are any recommendations, I'd be appreciative of the vectors & local backpacking scoop. Thanks for the education, guys! Oh, and disregard the mower pic -- I can't delete it! Doh!
That's gonna be a tough one, I'm watching this thread for ideas now myself. I know a lot a great options that meet all your criteria except no way in April. Good luck!
We're now looking at the Snoqualmie Valley Regional Trail, from Fall City to Tolt McDonald Campground near Carnation (?). Believe it just follows the river, so not really "backpacking", but it'll get us out & about. Snowshoes not required.
This time of year I'd do coastal hikes, but I don't know anything that close that is good for overnight trips. On Whidbey Is there's a good day hike: http://www.weekendhike.com/2012/08/whidbey-island-ebeys-landing.html If you're willing to travel farther and put up with a likelihood of rain, there's the coast trails near Ozette Lake, they are spectacular. https://www.google.com/maps/@48.1182519,-124.7229113,13z?hl=en
The Snoqualmie Regonal trail is a Rails-to-Trails conversion. Much of it runs through people's back yards, farmland, and boggy areas. It's a fun stroll, and a great and easy mt. bike ride, but not really a place to consider camping. Tolt-McDonald park is rather nice and does have some decent campsites - but it's far from being a forest campground experience. Coastal camping is the way to go. There is some limited hiking on Whidbey Island and some parks there where you can pitch a tent - IMHO it would be more fun there than sitting in the dank Snoqualmie Valley (where I live). You might be able to post-hole your way up to Barclay Lake off Hwy. 2. It's relatively low elevation, but will still have snow - doubtful you could make it to the trailhead. But it's relatively flat and might be fun, even with snow, if the snow is consolidated enough to walk on. Water should be plentiful.
Coasts and river valleys are your friend this time of year. A few of these are going to be further than you want to go, but Dungeness river, Hoh River, Ingalls Creek are worth a look. Lower Big Quilcene seems to fit your criteria. WTA and NWHikers are good resources and should have recent-ish trip reports. http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/map http://www.nwhikers.net/ This time of year expect to encounter lots of downfall. A small folding camp saw is a good idea to have. Not really for fully cutting away a down tree -just for clearing off a couple of branches to make crawling over or under or around a bit easier. Also expect lots of water on the trail and if the hike you choose has any river crossings don't be surprised if bridges are gone.
Another good hike might be the CCC Extension Trail. It is not on this map, but here is the starting point: <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://www.google.com/maps?q=47.53734,-121.577503&num=1&t=p&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=47.537312,-121.577411&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://www.google.com/maps?q=47.53734,-121.577503&num=1&t=p&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=47.537312,-121.577411&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small> Basically you travel up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie road (5600) a ways, and keep your eyes open on your left. You can see how there's a bit of a cliff close to the road (if you swap to old google maps and use the terrain feature). Anyhows, there's a bit of a turn-in where you can park right at the intersection with an older decommissioned road (dotted line on maps). The trail starts just east of that old intersection, there's a sign and obvious footpath right on the edge of the road. The trail itself is a very nice, basically flat, ramble through some truly gorgeous greenness and big trees and all that. Be prepared for a couple of creek crossings, but otherwise it's a very nice walk. The trail goes just over 3 miles and ends at the Middle Fork Snoqualmie campground. Yes, the campground that had you continued driving up the road you would have arrived at (and that is across the road from the Middle Fork Trailhead). WARNING!! There is another trail called the "CCC Road Trail" (old road turned into a trail). It is in very close to the same area, and has very nearly the same name. If you google "CCC extension trail", you will not find it, you will instead find a bunch of stuff about the CCC Road Trail. Do not be confused.
Middle Fork is the way to got - you can reserve your spot and camp at the hot springs and keep going north on the road. For the return you can use the other side river where the single track mt bike trail goes but so early you may need to clear it so bring a saw / be ready to climb over down threes http://www.goldmyer.org/
Excellent pointers, guys -- thanks! Wouldn't have thought to focus on coastal hikes, but that makes complete sense. We ended up "backpacking" to Tolt-McDonald from Fall City, about 6-7 miles of easy dirt road. Turns out it was a good shakedown for the rookies in the group, now better-prepped for the real deal. Still, their youth & fitness can overcome a lot of obstacles; real trails won't be a problem for 'em once they (ok, "we") pare down the 30lb rucks. Not to make this a ride report or anything, but here are a few pics: 6 miles to go...... Found an ammo can geocache along the way (Doh! No one packed a pen to log it, though). And just so you know, the hairdos are their school's swim team spirit thing..... At least part of our load was lightweight; we used the homemade backpack stoves from that guy over in Vendors for our hot dinner, breakfast oatmeal & (most important) Starbucks Vias. Experimental 3-burner effort shown here: The break's not over and the weather looks promising. We'll keep all the tips & recommendations y'all mentioned in our crosscheck. Thanks again!