[nitpacker]

Anyone know the status of bus service to either one of the passes?

[whitebark]

Greyhound no longer stops at Snoqualmie Pass. However, Northwest Trailways will stop and let hikers off at Stevens Pass....I believe. The service is operated by Amtrak as one of their "thruway busses". Here's one link: http://www.cwrr.com/Amtrak/wc_pnw.html It's too bad about Greyhound. The Stevens to Snoqualmie pass hike was one of the best bus hikes around. Some remaining pure bus options: the hike from Stevens to Metro-served North Bend( veering off the PCT at Waptus Lake and going over Dutch Miller gap and on down the Mid Fork); Stevens to Leavenworth via the Icicle Ridge trail; possibly the 90 mile PCT hike from Stevens to Lake Chelan (Stehekin or Holden), using the boat, county transit from Chelan to Wenatchee, and then bus or train to get back to Seattle.

[nitpacker]

Thanks for the info. Too bad about greyhound.

[LittleHikerMom]

I wish they'd create a new service that stops at snoqualmie. I really love that area... but am without a car... arg.

[Gray]

RE: coming into North Bend via Middle Fork... Am I missing something here? Would this not entail like 20+ miles of road walk to get from the bottom end of the Middle Fork trail to North Bend? Or is there a trail that heads from there to North Bend? I'm interested in anywhere I could get to via Metro/Community Transit and do a little hiking, on those days that I have the time, but cannot find anyone to give me a lift. Wouldn't it be nice to have a hiker bus-shuttle from Seattle to various trailheads near US2/I90? --Gray

[whitebark]

It's not that bad. If you use all available trails in the Mid Fork, notably the CCC trail, only about 4 miles of ungated road walking on Mt SI road is needed to get to North Bend. You can use the Snoqualmie Valley Trail to hike the final mile into N Bend. Clever hikers can use some little known routes on the lower flanks of MT SI to reduce the road walking even further. For some more info on bus assisted hiking, check out: http://www.eskimo.com/~pinyon/bushike/index.html

[Nisquaww]

A full pack, a and a will usually get you there...atleast with my experience. This isn't to say that hitchiking works all the time and for everyone, but I've been highly successful with hitches up the main arteries (you'll have to walk to the TH typically) Kind of a long story I think I'll share, shortened to the best of my ability for thread scanning attentions...Had a class canceled one morning back in May, which opened a two day slot for me to fit something in. Loaded a pack and decided to hit the proverbial 'open road' and see what would happen. Standing with a 'Seattle' sign, I caught a hitch from the Bellingham south onramp from a student (Total thumbing time 20 minutes). The dude was headed to Pullman, so I asked if he could drop me off at an I90 TH, which he gladly accepted. He dropped me off at Denny Cr. and I hiked to Melakwa with plenty of daylight to relax and enjoy myself that afternoon. Hiked out the next morning. Hitchiked from Denny Creek campground to North Bend in the back of a couples dodge on a beautiful day (total walk-thumbing time: 15 minutes). Sat on the westbound offramp next to the NorthBend outlets and caught my next hitch into Seattle from a contractor (total thumbage time: less than 5 minutes!). He dropped me off in Seattle. I milled around for a while and got some lunch. Bought a hound ride back to Bellingham. (no thumbage, unfortunately. Northbound is tricky, and I had classes the next day). The greyhound station is about 6 or 7 miles from my place in Bham, so upon arrival, I put the thumb to work again. A cute blonde picked me up, said I looked tired, and drove me to my doorstep (total walk thumbing: half an hour). Bam. Home, to Melakwa Lake, to Seattle, to home again, in about 28 hours, $15, and 70 minutes of thumbing. I thought that was pretty good. It seems a girthy pack, a smile, and the ol' opposable can get you around still.