[pct-l] Hiking Oregon and Washington this upcoming summer

[Nathan Miller]

Some of my best hikes have been in August and September.  I suppose there are pros and cons just like hiking an any other season.  The later in the season you hike, the less wildflowers there are in bloom and the more likely seasonal water sources will be dry.  In late September, it's typically MUCH cooler.  Late September hiking also means berries!  I've enjoyed huckleberry, salal, Oregon grape, cascara, false Solomon's seal, bunchberry and thimbleberry!  If I go after the first of the fall rains, it'll be a little damper, although water is not really going to be a problem in Oregon and Washington--except for some of those really long waterless stretches in southern Oregon.  As others have stated, mosquito activity is a mere shadow of its former self.  Days are shorter following the autumnal equinox, though and you'll likely be hiking by headlamp, possibly at both ends of the same day.

-Nate the Trail Zombie
Newberg, OR