How You Can Backpack the Cascades and Olympics from the Seattle Area, and Do it By Bus! by Dave McBee Summer 2019 update: I will not be actively checking for transit schedule updates or revisions at this time. (I'm busy, hustling my own book.) As I've always noted, check all transit systems you plan on using on any Backpacking by Bus adventure, BEFORE starting out.



Trouble spot that I would strongly recommend checking out: Chaper 1: Olympics North (delays on Clallam Transit 14 route due to road work), And since I'm supposed to be hustling some book... check out Jacked: A Coming of Age, With Fries. Seattle is uniquely positioned, surrounded closely by national parks and numerous national forest wildernesses. And we have public transit systems that range far enough and connect well enough that we can reach these recreational destinations on cheap public buses. These are public lands - there should be public access. And there is! None of the trips mentioned here are day trips; you're spending at least half a day just getting there so plan on sticking around a while! Why do this? You don't have a car .

. It's cheap : most of these trips will set you back less than ten bucks each way.

: most of these trips will set you back less than ten bucks each way. It's environmentally friendly : you're not adding to global warming.

: you're not adding to global warming. If you're visiting our area on vacation, you won't have to rent a car, just to abandon it at a trailhead for several days.

just to abandon it at a trailhead for several days. Not being tied to a car makes it easier to hike point-to-point (entering at one trailhead and exiting at another).

(entering at one trailhead and exiting at another). You'll pick up more local color and information chatting with locals on buses than you ever would sitting in a car by yourself. To be fair, I will now list all the reasons I can think of that you might not want to do this. Here's the downside: it's physically harder than driving a car to a trailhead. In most cases, to reach your destination you'll have to be on the first bus at the crack of dawn. Then it's off and back on a sequence of perhaps five or six buses, lugging your backpack with you every step of the way, until late afternoon. And then you start walking several miles of dusty, often steep access road ... just to reach your chosen trailhead.

Then it's off and back on a sequence of perhaps five or six buses, lugging your backpack with you every step of the way, until late afternoon. And then you start walking ... just to reach your chosen trailhead. Same thing coming back: you might have to break camp in the dark to get back to that first bus stop by the other crack of dawn, if need be.

to get back to that first bus stop by the other crack of dawn, if need be. If the weather goes to crap, and it's now the weekend, and there's no bus service, you're pretty much stuck with it. There. That's about as hard as it gets. Still interested? I will give you all the distances involved; start with an easy one that suits your interest and abilities. This site assumes you have basic backpacking experience ,

, are in physical condition equal to the tasks and rigors involved, and

equal to the tasks and rigors involved, and have all the gear necessary for a safe and successful trip. You'll still need to use your favorite trail guide books, as well as the pertinent topo maps. We will simply help you get from Seattle to within walking distance of a whole bunch of backpacking destinations. If we haven't scared you off, see left sidebar for where we go....



Sheldon: All right, I suppose I'll go put on my bus pants. Leonard: What the hell are bus pants? Sheldon: They are pants one wears over one's regular pants when one sits on bus seats that other people have previously sat on. But, perhaps from your lofty heights atop the corporate ladder, you've lost touch with the struggles of the common man. Dave's reBUTTal re. Why YOU need Bus Pants

