[pct-l] Adding Weight to Pack for Training - Seattle

[Eric Lee (GAMES)]

Patrick wrote:
>
I did the first option. It's bogus! I went up to Olympic yesterday and
it rained on me. I've been trying to find someplace close that's good
for training (the lake crescent area of olympic national park that I
use now is about two hours) but the only part of the park I'm familiar
with is the north and northwest sections. I figured the rainshadow
would be a good location but I don't actually know any hikes that way.
>

Oh, sure, now you want *dry* hills!  Sheesh!  Good luck with that.  My solution is generally to go snowshoeing in the winter.  Snow is much less miserable than rain.

I don't get over to the Olympics much because it takes a lot more time to get there from Redmond than it does to get up to the Cascades.  I do know that the Elwha River Trail and the Duckabush Trail are two that are often open in the winter, though this particular winter has given us a lot more low-elevation snow than normal.

In the Cascades, there are also several low-elevation trails that can be used for training.  Little Si, Rattlesnake Ledge, and Tiger Mountain are three in the Issaquah/North Bend area.

Eric