BACKPACKING BY BUS

All of the counties of western Washington have transit systems, many of which connect with those of neighboring counties such that it's possible to get from Seattle, Tacoma, or Everett to, say, Mount Rainier, or the Hoh River rain forest, or Ross Lake, in a day, with enough time left to find a campsite before dark.

Backpack by bus because you don't own a car. Do it if you're just visiting western Washington and don't want to rent a car, just to leave it for several days at some lonely trailhead. Do it, even if you do own a car, because of the risks of losing your car to vandals and thieves. Do it because it makes point-to-point travel easier: you can begin your hike at one trailhead and finish at another. Do it because it's cheap and environmentally correct.

The downside: the buses travel, in most cases, along the major highways and thoroughfares. You have to get from there to the trailhead. Most of these are five to fifteen miles away, albeit along pleasant country roads.

If you look determined and/or pathetic enough, people with cars may stop and offer you rides. Remember: hitchhiking is a terminal sport, and you may well be out on the middle of relatively nowhere, but many of the people driving by are on their way to doing the same sort of thing you're doing. But use your soundest judgment!

But don't assume the offer will come: sometimes they all seem to be in a hurry, or are looking the other way. Check your mileage and make sure the walk in question is within your ability and within the time parameters. If you're prone to blisters, pack a pair of sneakers. Most people can walk (with a full backpack) between two and three miles an hour.

Bus service in some of these less-populous communities is very limited on weekends; most of these routes connect on Monday through Friday only. So look upon it as a way to avoid the throngs of weekend warriors; go in midweek, and by the weekend you can be well into the backcountry, away from the Saturday morning crowds.

This series of articles is not intended to replace your favorite "hundred-and-whatever" hiking guide book you'll still need to refer to that for detailed information on trail conditions, elevation gain, etc. This series of articles is intended to provide a link between the urban areas and the trails themselves. I've started the trips in Seattle, but, with minor changes, almost all of them are accessible from Tacoma and Everett as well.

We hike on public lands; there should be low-cost public access to those lands. And there is!