Seattle Mags - Long weekend ideas

[Staircase]

Me and the GF will be in Seattle in August for a long weekend. We are looking for ideas of things to do, day trips. We have been to Seattle before and spent our time in the downtown area (pikes place). Am looking for more adventurous things to do, ie. hiking, kayaking, biking, water sports, beach, sailing, etc.

We are planning to stay in Seattle (Capitol Hill), but can drive to things outside of city if necessary.

Anybody want to rent us their bikes for a couple of days?

Thanks for the input.

[KQ]

Psst: It's Pike Place...no "s"


Head to Mt. Baker and hit the trail. Skyline Divide is lovely.

[hway2]

Spend one day hiking to Lake Serene off highway 2 near Index. Its about three hours from door to lake, but a tough hike getting up there. That gives you enough time to get back for drinks at SamBar and then dinner at Lark, Harvest Vine or anywhere in ballard.

[Art Shirk]

San Juan Islands are a good time too. Maybe ferry it out to Orcas Island, walk around the main little city and then bike out to Mount Constitution and check out the views.

[KQ]

Park Butte Lookout is a great hike too and it can be done as a loop.

[Buster Highmen]

You have at least 5 major areas:
Rainier
I-90 corridor
US-2
SR530/Mountain Loop Highway.
San Juans.

Rainier: Head down to Enumclaw, then up Highway 410. Enumclaw is about and hour from Cap Hill. You can picnic along the way or head up any of a zillion trails at Buck Creek, Crystal Mountain or Sunrise entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

I-90 corridor: Melakwa Lake hike along Denny Creek is cool, about 50 minutes drive from Capitol Hill. You should stop in at The Salish Lodge and Snoqualmie Falls for a drink on the way back. There's tons of hikes along there.

US-2: Index is cool with a serious climbing wall just out of town and a bunch of neat places to hike and hangout. Troublesome Creek park is up ther with a ton of stuff. Just before you get to the town of Index, there's a dirt road and the trail up to Lake Serene which is great. You'll drive along the Skykomish most of the way up to Stevens Pass, there's too many great hikes.

SR530/Mountain Loop - Get to Granite Falls and follow the Mountain Loop highway. Lake 22, Mount Pilchuck, Boardman Lake, Coal Lake, Big Four, up to Barlow Pass, down along the S. Fork of the Sauk and on into Darrington. Everywhere up there is great.

San Juans- Head up to Anacortes, leave the car in the lot and take a ferry out to Friday Harbor and back.

Here's a great resource for hikes: http://www.wta.org .

[Squirrel99]

San Juans- Head up to Anacortes, leave the car in the lot and take a ferry out to Friday Harbor and back.

Here's a great resource for hikes: http://www.wta.org .

Victoria Clipper also runs one daily trip to/from Friday Harbor and can package overnight stays (if you want to avoid the Anacortes drive/Ferry wait)

Don't forget about the Olympics, too. Bit of a ferry ride & drive, but I'd recommend Beach #2 (?) with all those sweet sea stacks.

Brunch @ Salish Lodge would be a good way to start off your day if you head up toward Alpine Lakes via Alpental or other I-90 area hiking.

[The AD]

Northwest Outdoor Center on Lake Union rents sea kayaks. You could easily spend a few hours one day paddling around Lake Union and the surrounding waters.

Walking around Green Lake is a classic in city thing to do. It's about three miles around the lake. Another great park in the city is Discovery Park in Magnolia. The Ballard Locks are nearby and also worth a stop.

[shmerham]

Psst: It's Pike Place...no "s"


Head to Mt. Baker and hit the trail. Skyline Divide is lovely.

Skyline Divide is closed from what I heard (recently). As far as hiking goes, the further away you go, the less crowded the trails will be (in general). What's your priority? Proximity or seclusion? ...and how long of a hike are you willing to do? I prefer stuff further north (Mt Loop Highway and North Cascades).

Kayaking - You can rent from Aqua Verde (restaurant in the U-District), paddle down to the arboretum (there will be lots of boats on the way down, but by the arboretum it's quiet)and then come back for some good mexican.

Road biking - Lots of people like to ride to Red Hook, which is kinda for the beer, but it has a good tour. It's an easy (very flat) 40 miles round trip on the Burke-Gilman trail. Another good option is to ride to Mercer Island and ride around there. You could also ferry out to Bainbridge or Vashon Island if you're into hills.

[shmerham]

[url=http://www.nwoc.com/about/]Walking around Green Lake is a classic in city thing to do. It's about three miles around the lake. Another great park in the city is Discovery Park in Magnolia.

Don't go to Greenlake. Your girlfriend will get jealous with you looking at all the "scenery".

Discovery Park is one of my favorites. I second the suggestion to go there. Hard to believe a park like that is in the limits of a city as big as Seattle.

[KQ]

Great Mt bike trail by Crystal on the way to Mt. Rainier: Noble Knob

[The AD]

Lots of hiking suggestions already, but here are my recommendations for first-timers who want the most bang for their buck. Many have already been mentioned

I-90: Granite Mountain, Snow Lake (crowded, but good, and you'll get to see Alpental).
US-2: Lake Serene, Iron Goat Trail if you're a railroad buff.
Mountain Loop: Mt. Dickerman, Lake 22. Note the bridge to Big Four ice caves is out, so that one's out.
Rainier: Burroughs Mountain (Sunrise), Naches Peak (410), Skyline (Paradise)

[TomK]

Rainier: Head down to Enumclaw, then up Highway 410. Enumclaw is about and hour from Cap Hill. You can picnic along the way or head up any of a zillion trails at Buck Creek, Crystal Mountain or Sunrise entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

Just be aware that hwy 123 between Sunrise and Paradise is closed due to washouts south of the intersection with 410 (where 410 turns east to go over chinook pass.)
If you want to hit Paradise, head down the west side via Hwy 7 to 12 instead of the 410/123 route.

[bossass]

North Bend, Duh.

Climb Mt. Si, go to Snowqualamie falls, and finish off with Cherry Pie and "a damn good cup of coffee" at Twede's.

[Buster Highmen]

Just be aware that hwy 123 between Sunrise and Paradise is closed due to washouts south of the intersection with 410 (where 410 turns east to go over chinook pass.)
If you want to hit Paradise, head down the west side via Hwy 7 to 12 instead of the 410/123 route.

Yeah, Mt. Loop highway is closed too, but you can go partway to take in the scenery....

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Climb Mt. Ellinor, the Southernmost peak in the Olympics on the East side (facing Seattle.) Take the ferry across the sound (neat for out-of-towners) then drive to the trailhead which is a cool drive across the Kitsap Peninsula and along the South end of Hood Canal.

The hike up Ellinor is very steep but not very long - about 2500 ft. elevation gain in just about 2.5 miles. You can look East and see Seattle, all of the Puget Sound lowlands, Hood Canal and all the various branches of the Sound, and the major volcanoes in the Cascades from up there on a clear day. Take some good binoculars and you will probably be able to see the place you are staying.

It's a full day trip, but well worth it if the weather's clear. It's a lot of fun in Spring when most of the climb is on snow and you can take your skis or just a good pair of nylon pants and slide all the way back down. It's also extremely popular so don't be surprised by the number of people if you go on a weekend. If you decide you want to do this, let me know and I can provide good driving directions.

[refried]

If your going to go to the San Juan islands take a seaplane, Kenmore Air flies up here several times a day and it's only about 45 minutes. Fly into Lopez or Friday Harbor and rent bikes for the day, rental shops are right at the dock.

[nutcase]

you could follow your username and head up to the staircase area in the Olympic mountains and climb Mt. Ellinor - one of the best hikes I have ever done on a clear day. Awesome views and usually at least a few mountain goats

Edit: Chainsaw beat me to it.