Where to Go this Weekend

It's an annual rite in my household: the agonizing quest to determine where to go hiking over the Fourth of July weekend. Where will there be sun? How high can I climb without encountering snow? How can I find some solitude?

It's a difficult calculus, made more difficult by our chilly and wet spring. Snow levels are at 4400 feet in some locations - hardly making the high country very accessible. And the forecast is a bit mixed (as of Wednesday afternoon), but certainly more promising than our gloomy Memorial Day or Father's Day weekends. Weekend days look to start off cloudy and get sunnier as the day progresses - and that's not bad for the 4th around here!

If you want to take a closer look at the weather, I suggest you try the National Weather Service's Mountain Forecast. Snowline searchers may like poking around USDA's Snotel site.

As for hiking, we've put together a new article to help you figure out where to go this weekend. Our 4th of July Hikes piece features four hikes with patriotic names (and accessible to hikers now), plus descriptions of the hiking in four regions where you can maximize your sun and minimize your snow - the Teanaway, Methow, Mountain Loop and north Olympics.

If these aren't places you want to go, I suggest you browse our most recent Trip Reports. Many hikers like to view our "Freshest" Trip Reports page, which gives you the most recent 100 reports in summary form. I am much more partial to our regular Trip Reports page, which still gives you the most recent reports, but also provides some important basic info (including "snow on trail"), a thumbnail of any photos submitted and the ability to preview the text.

Need more ideas? Our Seasonal Hiking Suggestion page provides links to more than a dozen articles we've written that detail various hikes and regions. There is certainly something for everyone - for families with kids to weekend hikers to backpackers.

Whatever your choice, there is some great hiking to be done right now! Get out and enjoy. Then return here after your trip and write a Trip Report.