Started at the trailhead and made it to Yocum Ridge. I was solo that trip and didn't have enough time to do the whole thing. The elevation gain was a lot tougher than I thought. I almost turned back after Day 2 but decided to stay out for the whole time of 4 days. I'd go back to do the whole thing.

I have a great picture from my last campsite where the clouds are settled below me and you see the mountain peaks emerging from the clouds. I love hiking in the PNW. Olympic was my first experience with backpacking and turned me into a huge fan. I want to do Mount Rainer one day.

We do it as an overnight. It's a bit grueling but worth it. No better place in Mt Hood National to camp. The alpenglow as the sun sets is unreal.

Agree with you on the PNW. I love Colorado, California, the Appalachians, etc., but something about the PNW nature feel like home. On that note- if you ever get a chance to do the North Cascades, jump on it. We've been up a few times and are going back in June. I think my favorite camping experience of my life was when we canoe camped on Ross Lake. We slept on Cougar Island and had the whole thing to ourselves. It was unreal.

Used to hike from Sisters up over the mountains and down to Cultus Lake every summer in college. Great trail, great camping.

My girlfriend has a good friend who lives in Bend now which will hopefully change that. Going there in June for a Jason Isbell/Father John Misty show, and to do a bike ride up to Bachelor. I need to backpack there, though.

My sister lives in Bend and will be there.

Lots of lakes/campsites along the Cascade Lakes highway that are great for hiking.

Ross. We're there every year. 🙂

It's not easy to get to- both the park in the country, and the lake in the park. It makes for some beautiful solitude if you're willing to work for it.

Accessed from the North, that is a fairly easy hike.

We also like Elk Meadows, accessed from the South, which is an even easier hike except for the crossing the river on a downed log part. Just a bit sketchy. Elk Meadows has fewer spots and fills up quick. The actual meadow portion is quite soggy. I have never seen elk there, but friends have.

I usually park at Top Spur TH or the Ramona TH. It's a bit of a trek to get to it from there. We did Eden the last time we camped near Lost Lake.

I've done a little backpacking there myself to get to a couple of climbs. Although I really, really, really hate Devil's Club.

Made me want to get into climbing.

I will say that Big Bend NP in Texas was another beautiful park. The terrain was way different than the PNW and virtually no water sources but it was beautiful. I don't know if I would do another desert hike though. Carrying your own water is a MF'er and weighs a ton. I was in Big Bend in the middle of December but it was still 75 and sunny. I think I had something like 9L of water on me and needed every last drop.