Forum Index > Trail Talk > Olympic National Park in Mid-April?
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elo1638
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PostTue Jan 10, 2017 9:35 am 
I have time off work April 8-17 so I'm currently casing the country figuring where I should fly to (from the east coast) to spend my spring break backpacking in a new place! What are your thoughts on Olympic in April? I've read contradictory information online. For instance, some have said spring is a great time for the rainforest areas and the coast and wildflowers. I also read that April would be too early for the vegetation in the rainforest to be at its best. So you can see why I'm confused. confused.gif What do you all think? If you were flying in from out of state to see Olympic, would you do it in April or is another time better? And side question, do you think 9 days is a good chunk or time to spend in ONP? (I do plan on eventually doing another trip to see other parts of Washington)

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spamfoote
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PostTue Jan 10, 2017 10:15 am 
1) You are running into the difference between locals who can pick and choose based on the current weather and knowledge of the previous month, and those who can't have this knowledge before choosing to embark upon a quest for fungus, algae, and larger herbivores... 2) You are running into the difference between the mountains of ONP and the lowlands. 3) You are running into the vast variability of snowpack As a local, who has intermittent work, I can pick and choose when I go backpacking. Therefore watching the weather report for the Olympic coast is quite easy to do and I get to CHOOSE when I see the coast. So, April is a WONDERFUL time to go to the coast. Wildflowers, check, sun, check, not freezing cold, check, not boiling hot, check, few people, check. If on the other hand I had to go without looking at the weather, I would be leery to say the least. We can easily have a week straight of rain/wind in April... The coast in the rain, driving wind/sand, and cold temperatures, is not generally fun. ON THE OTHER HAND, weather wild on the coast is AWESOME... Uh, for short duration of time that is. As for the "rainforest". Personally, I like seeing the rainforest in the spring time. Clouds/rain rolling in/through the trees. Personally I prefer FALL over spring as all of the mushrooms are abundant. Mushrooms also appear in the spring time as well, but to a much smaller extent. Generally, flowers in the forest do not start until May/June. Likewise this completely depends on how DEEP into the mountain valley's you go. How much snow is above you? A side valley rainforest without snow up above, will be 10 degrees warmer than a main Olympic National Park valley with large snowpack on all of the mountain sides. The main ONP valley will be ~35F and butt freezing cold/miserable and the side valley will be 45-->55F and quite pleasant, but chilly. If sun is out 65F. Likewise in Spring on the WEST side of the park, if one gets an inversion, it can be 75F on the coast when on the other side of the park it will be 45F. So, if you do go to ONP in the spring, nearly everyone always goes to the West side which also happens to have the best rainforest as well and the coast. Me, being honest... If you have 9 days in April, go to the SW USA. Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce, Zion, even Grand Canyon EDIT: If you don't see the mountains and the fields of wildflowers in the summer, you haven't seen Olympic National Park. And yes, April is too early to see vegetation. It will be mostly brown except in VERY open sunny spots on the coast. Now, if you came at say, the end of MAY... EDIT 2: If you really want rainforest in the spring, head to California/S. Oregon coast and see the Redwoods. I know, its not really rain forest but... PS> The state parks are better than Redwood national Park in my opinion.

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RumiDude
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PostTue Jan 10, 2017 2:59 pm 
spamfoote wrote:
As for the "rainforest". Personally, I like seeing the rainforest in the spring time. Clouds/rain rolling in/through the trees. Personally I prefer FALL over spring as all of the mushrooms are abundant. Mushrooms also appear in the spring time as well, but to a much smaller extent.
+1 I love hiking in ONP all year round, but for the rain forest, Fall is my favorite. October is a great month because the rain usually isn't crazy heavy yet. I can enjoy ONP any time I wish because I live within a fifteen minute drive of actually accessing trails. I can actually walk to ONP but to get to good trails I usually drive. As spamfoote alluded to, ONP is not at its peak splendor in April. In other words the magnificence of the rainforest and meadows is yet to come. Snow will prevent you from enjoying the high country unless you are looking and prepared for snow travel. And though the coast is really great anytime of the year, it can overwhelm you if the weather is wind driven rain. This past year I spent a week during April doing trail work in the Quinault area and it rained hard every day. Every day I got soaked to the skin and spent every evening drying out. I imagine it was the same or moreso out on the coast. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Pyrites
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PostTue Jan 10, 2017 5:57 pm 
I would caution too that above comments on deep snow on ridges means snow of a dozen feet or more

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RumiDude
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PostWed Jan 11, 2017 2:11 am 
I should add that I hike often in April. The thing I wanted to emphasize is that if you are wanting to experience the peak of wild flowers, April is not a great month. There should be lots of trillium as well as mushrooms but those will be down in the river valleys as the alpine meadows will still be under snow. The rainforest proper, i.e. all the stuff on the west end can be a roll of the dice as far as rain. Most of the bad wind will be past, but be aware that there will be blow down and a good wind could unleash limbs and trees which were only partially broken or got caught and then released by fresh wind. I like the Bogachiel because it is less used than the other rivers on the west end. After the first two miles it is likely you may not see another person. It's can be muddy though. Anyway, I just wanted to add this to assure you there are great moments in April in ONP, just not the peak of magnificence it has to offer. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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elo1638
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PostWed Jan 11, 2017 6:56 pm 
Thanks for the responses. I especially appreciate the differentiation between being able to go to Olympic anytime (living in WA) vs my situation of flying in from the east coast. As an aside I really hope to someday live out that way as I feel my love of wilderness is wasted on the mid-Atlantic. I think I'll approach it from the standpoint that if - IF - I can only see Olympic once, April is not the best way to do it. Perhaps I'll set my sights on the southwest as suggested and will save Olympic for when I have time in the summer or fall.

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drm
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PostThu Jan 12, 2017 12:31 pm 
elo1638 wrote:
I think I'll approach it from the standpoint that if - IF - I can only see Olympic once, April is not the best way to do it.
That's a good way of looking at it. People who travel frequently and can revisit if they want to can more easily deal with less than ideal conditions. But note that summer has it's risks, smaller though they may be. Smokey days from fires, crowds of people, and storms can hit any time of year, even if they are less frequent. In the wilderness there are no guarantees. I think I probably speak for many in saying that both my best and worst backpacking trips have been in the shoulder season.

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PostThu Jan 12, 2017 1:50 pm 
After a winter and early spring around here, I am typically looking for warmth and sun for spring break. The question is how much weather risk you want to take. That risk pretty much maxes out in the Hoh rainforest and on the Washington coast. Most of the national parks in the SW are at higher elevation and weather can be very dicey there in April as well. I have been snowed on in Capitol Reef in April and clear nights often drop into the 20s. The way to MINIMIZE weather risk in April is to fly into Las Vegas and go to areas around there, which are at lower elevation. John Morrow has posted enough hikes around there to fill a book, and there is even more here: birdandhike.com/

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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spamfoote
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PostFri Jan 13, 2017 2:33 am 
Difference is in the SW, yes it will be snowing one minute and 30 degrees, but the next it will be sunny and 65, edit: or 85. Especially in April. March? No. Besides, in 9 days you can't see everything anyways. So, you WILL be going back. Only question is WHEN and for how long. Canyonlands are not high. Needles I found... meh. Driving around down below the rim on the other hand I found awesome. Arches are not high. Can do it in a day. Total is about 15ish miles to all the arches, well 95% of them anyways. That mileage includes delicate BTW. Zion is medium height Capital Reef is medium haven't done much, but the slot canyon with all the writing on the wall was cool. Uh, graffiti... Side canyons not in national park are not high. Most are low. Those are go, stand, look, exit where you will spend far more time driving to, and learning where they are, than actually "investigating" them. Bryce is high, but is snowfree generally in April. Still piles of snow from the snow plow, but otherwise... Even if it did have snow, it will be what? A foot? Been there 3 times. Twice in spring. March it was cool, but sunny and light snow the next day. April it was gorgeous. Third time it was end of May and fantastic, but hot and crowded. Bryce can be done walking near 100% of every trail in a VERY long day depending on your fitness level. Not much vertical. Just lots of stopping for awesome. Be ready to drive through a snowstorm for a couple hours only to be met by 100% dry sunny driving conditions on the other side of the squal line. If you go to Zion, you must go up to the top of Dark Angels Landing and the Great White Throne. Go early to miss the crowds who will block the route making it PAINFUL. That is around 4000 feet vertical for both of those trails. Honestly you could spend your entire week in Zion. Only problem with April is that probably won't be going upstream to the narrows unless you don't mind the cold. Last time I did it, I froze and it was snowing off and on. Stupid... I don't recommend doing it when it is that cold even if it was your second time seeing the park and you are bound and determined to check off a box. No, I did not mention Grand Canyon. Been there, but honestly it is a gigantic hole in the ground. Maybe I didn't go to the right spot during my backpack sub rim(most likely). Got me. Impressive big hole, but I didn't see anything below rim IMO that I couldn't see above rim or slightly below the rim without all the hassle. Now a rafting trip on the other hand... Haven't done it though.

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elo1638
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PostSat Jan 14, 2017 9:57 am 
I should mention I did a 10 day trip to Utah October 2015. Flew into Vegas. Spent a few days in Zion, and a few in Bryce, and spent the rest of the time driving up Scenic Byway 12 to Capitol Reef and back - checked out a few state parks and BLM land along the Byway. Loved Zion and did Angel's Landing in the early AM - caught the first shuttle to beat the crowds. Couldn't do Narrows due to flash flood warning. Didn't get a chance to see Canyonlands or Arches, and only got to spend a few hours in Capitol Reef (I believe we went into the same slot canyon you're describing). So I'm thining this time maybe fly into SLC instead of Vegas, drive down to spend a few days in Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands, and then cut east into CO to see Mesa Verde and then maybe fly home out of... ABQ, to avoid backtracking? Or could cut west to revisit Bryce and then return to SLC to fly home.

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Mikey
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PostSat Jan 14, 2017 11:24 am 
You wrote: "spend my spring break backpacking in a new place!". Would you please provide some information as to where you have backpacked. Also could you mention your definition of "backpacking" (ie one day trips, hiking and extended camping in remote areas, or what). Probably April 2017 will have wet and cool weather with periods of snow down to 1000 ft elevation in Western Washington.

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elo1638
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PostSat Jan 14, 2017 12:48 pm 
Mikey wrote:
You wrote: "spend my spring break backpacking in a new place!". Would you please provide some information as to where you have backpacked. Also could you mention your definition of "backpacking" (ie one day trips, hiking and extended camping in remote areas, or what). Probably April 2017 will have wet and cool weather with periods of snow down to 1000 ft elevation in Western Washington.
I've backpacked mostly in the mid-Atlantic. Shenandoah National Park and Monongahela National Forest. Been up to the Adirondacks a couple times as well, and spent 10 days in Utah as outlined above. I plan on trying for the Wonderland Trail in August/September this year, and had thought about doing Olympic in April when I made this post. But after reading the advice I've gotten here I think I'll head southwest for my April trip. I'll send in requests for both Wonderland and some backcountry sites in Olympic so I can do Olympic in August/September if I don't get Wonderland permits. I define backpacking as putting on a backpack with camping gear and hitting the trail. smile.gif Could be a one nighter, or up to a week. Doesn't matter to me. I'm also fine with car camping and day hiking if it lets me see more diverse areas in a short time (didn't do any actual backpacking on my last trip to Utah, for example, but got to see 3 national and 4 state parks in 10 days).

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Eric Hansen
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PostSat Jan 14, 2017 8:08 pm 
You will be locked into your airline flight/ticket/destination, not your final destination (assuming you're renting a vehicle). Do Vegas. Can't think of a finer wilderness portal airport for that time of year. Multiple hiking destination possibilities relatively nearby/variety of elevations. Be aware of several good choices and you won't be caught flat footed by weather/conditions. Bummer weather/conditions 200 miles east of your airport may not be present 200 miles west and vice versa. Nothing against WA coast, just not sure what the plan B would be if weather moved in. Maybe Alvord Playa, east of Steens Mt.? (eastern OR) I'm assuming you're on foot, hiking. If skiing or snowshoeing your thing, comfortable with backcountry snow evaluation early April can be a primo time of year in higher reaches of Zion, Southern Utah plateaus, Snake Range in Nevada etc. One incredible destination for that is Navajo Mt. (s. of Lake Powell) Check in with the Navajo, pay your respects, re permits but walking in thru the red rock canyons, ascending 6,000' to the highest peak around is a fabulous trip I've done 3 or 4 times. View includes San Juans, Henrys, San Francisco Peaks, oceans of red rock below and Rainbow Bridge. Edit, I think a fire scorched the virgin ponderosa forest there a few years back. Confession. I used to fly into Vegas as much as 4 or 5 times/yr. (me WI based) I'd add a personal day to holidays and fly in for 3, 4 or 5 days. Fabulous trips, choices. I skied Zion's high country, Navajo Mt. a bunch, Henry Mts., Mt. Moriah in the Snake Range. Backpacked the low country east of Vegas in the cool months, mid levels in southern Utah in spring, and the Snake Range, Monitor Range and north end of the Spring Mts. when the lower elevations were warm.

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