[Newt]

Hopefully I'll get some relief of working nights next Wed and will have till Sun night off. Night work has destroyed my life. I'm looking for a place that would be cooler in temps if this good weather holds up. I love the sun and heat but not right now. I've been thinking the Olympics but fear without reservations I'll be hard pressed for a car camping spot. Parks and campgrounds are ok. Trees preferred. Hopefully some hikes would be near by but not strenuous. I'm in piss poor shape right now and this is recoup time. Somebody got some ideas to throw out? I'll consider anything other than your or my back yard or a place with whinny bratty kids. 2-4 hour drive from Lake Stevens is ok. Much thanks.

[Slugman]

Heat pretty much blankets the area when it occurs. Your best bets would be the ocean or high altitude. Give Mt Rainier a look, it was topping out at 70 at Sunrise on a day that it was 80 + back in the lowlands. The Olympic coast is still an option. Only Kalaloch accepts reservations, there still may be reservable spots left. Other campgrounds are first come first served. Here's a link with info and more links. Some of the Kalaloch info is obviously wrong. The toilets are not pit toilets, and water does not have to be packed in from ranger station. I've been there dozens of times, the website is cracked. And if RV use is "discouraged", then they're doing a piss-poor job of discouragement!

[gary]

Couple of Olympic places come to mind: Salt Creek Recreation Area, on the Strait about 15 miles west of Port Angeles. Reservations not accepted. Certainly will be some families w/ kids. There is a $16/night fee (wow, was only $12 a year ago). Place is run by Clallum County. If you go there, make sure you drive into the back, much more shade, nicer sites, right on the water. Some tide pools, but not as nice as the ones out by Kalaloch. Nice little beach when the tide's down, though. A short drive away is Lake Crescent with some nice short trails (Marymere falls comes to mind) around it. Sol Duc river is close -- pretty trails there. Port Angeles is only 15 minutes away. I really like this campground for car camping, but it is generally pretty full. I would think you could get a decent site arriving mid-week. Kinda nice to sit on the water at night, watching the fog move down the strait, along with ships coming into the sound and the lights of Victoria visible across the border. Hurricane ridge is close. Pretty views up there, but it is a zoo. The Elwha river is really close. Salt Creek's website has a ranger/care taker phone number and I'm sure they'd tell you about crowds or alternative areas. The pics on their website really suck, the back end is much nicer than the pics convey. Speaking of which, the "Elwha Camp Ground" is on the small road from the highway towards Lake Mills and the Elwha (Whiskey Bend) trailhead. Its small but might have low kid noise. If you don't mind hiking a short ways, there are some nice, secluded sites near Goblins Gate on the Elwha. 1.5 mile easy hike. Called the "Krause Bottoms". A little further (4 miles from the TH) is the Lillian River. Nice campsites there. Pretty secluded for only 4 miles... Past that you gotta go aways to reach more campsites. --- If you end up in the Lake Cushman area, there is a little FS campground named Lilliwaup Creek, that is free, shaded, and was oddly quiet when I was there. I don't know why it was so quiet, lucky I guess. Topo maps show it close to a swamp and I thought it would have bad mosquitos, but it didn't. On the same trip Cushman and the Skokomish river had skeeters the size of Pterodactyls. Staircase and the south side of the Skokomish makes a nice dayhike, and can be some pretty good fishin too. There are other trails in the area, but the ones I've been on have some pretty good elevation gains. --- East, past Lake Quinault has some campgrounds. If seclusion was your main goal, I've never seen anyone camped at the NorthFork campground. It is not scenic though and has no water. Fish in the river though. Graves Creek campground is up this direction also. It's a pretty campground. Too bad the road into the Queets campground is washed out(bike ride maybe), you'd love it there (right on the river, extremely secluded, lots of spanish moss on the trees, tons of elk and wildlife). If I was a bigfoot, I'd live there...

[Anatase]

Sounds like you would prefer some primitive campsites in the higher elevations of the N cascades or alpine wildErness area. Does anyone have suggestions for those? I know i have driven past many, but don't have names offhand.

[lookout bob]

I would suggest going high up ( as the Slugman suggested)....but I would go over N.Cascades Highway and then left at Mazama and up to Harts Pass Area. There's a campground there ( 2 actually although I've heard that Meadows was burned over a couple seasons ago....) Meadows was great last time I was there. There is also a small site near the Harts Pass Ranger station and there are many short hike in opportunities there too....Grasshopper pass, or lots of sites just north of there on the Crest Trail The whole area is above 5000 feet so should be cooler than the low lands.....Don't forget good beer keeps you cool ( and lubricated....)

[DayveeB]

It's hot during the day, but cools off pretty significantly at night. I'd recommend checking out Moran State Park on Orcas Island. If you're looking for some good recoup time, the islands are it, in my opinion. There's some easy hikes to lakes, and up Mt. Constitution. Beautiful views. I actually did a cycling tour of Orcas Island this past weekend. If you're interested in seeing some photos, let me know. I'd post a trip report, but since it wasn't a hiking trip - I'll leave it to you to let me know if you're interested.

[Fried Newt]

Thanks. As usual, my time off is being cut down to just a couple of days. Dang carrot in front of my nose thingy. I'm thinkin the NC and Mazama area will do. I can just boogie over leaving from work. Place is undetermined as of yet but Harts pass is out. After my car being broke into a few years ago, I for some reason have a very sour taste for the place. Probably won't be a trip report unless it's a pass driving conditions. hehe I'm done whining now. Thanks and keep on hiking. edit: Orcas is a great spot. Mt Constitution has some awesome views when clear. I've hiked to it in the fog and snow at times and the fog makes the look very erie. Great for whale watching too.

[marzsit]

dungeness spit has a very nice campground, and since it's a clallam county park without rv hookups it doesn't usually get filled up most weekends. the spit itself is a nice, long dayhike with a cool destination (the lighthouse) and no real elevation gain/loss, so it's good for nursing injuries i prefer campground loop #2, nicer bathrooms and newer (cleaner) picnic tables.

[captain jack]

Sol Duc