I'm in Seattle until August 13th doing research at UW. While I'm busy 9 til 4 or 5 on weekdays, I'd really love to get some real backpacking done on the weekends. Of course, since I'm here visiting from Georgia, I don't have a car with me. (Issaquah Alps are nice and accessible by bus, but no camping :( )

If anyone in the Seattle area would like an ultralight partner/friend for a weekend backpacking trip, let me know! In the Appalachians, I usually hike some long days (25-30 miles/day), though I don't mind going a bit slower and/or for shorter :D I'm pretty experienced (~600 miles on the AT+Benton MacKaye) and young (21). Also, I'm quite into MYOG so I do have some gear to share

Edited by riemannia on 06/27/2012 00:02:15 MDT.

Try posting on this Seattle area hiking forum:
http://www.nwhikers.net/

Hey, carless UW grad student here. You definitely need to do better than the Issaquah Alps while you're out here! Unfortunately I'm crunching on a paper deadline, then skipping town for a long hike, so can't help directly. A fellow student does occasional backpacking and frequent day-hiking with me. Not really UL/30mi days, but does have wheels and could be in the market for hiking company in my absence. PM me.

Even without 4-wheeled friends, all hope is not lost if you can find 2 wheels.

Good luck!

Also, if your RA gets you library access, the UW library has multiple copies of the full collection of Green Trails maps (medium-scale topos with all the trails nicely marked, covering the Cascades and Olympics) and of course USGS topos.

Thanks for the tip on NWhikers.net, I'll definitely check it out!