Thinking of moving to Pacific Northwest

Yeah I grew up in the pnw. Between the Cascades, mt Rainier national park, Olympic national park, glacier peak, Mt Baker, Mt St Helens, etc there are a lot of good spots. Lots of backcountry and thick woods, especially Olympic. There are a lot of hikers on the noob trails though especially around Rainier and the Cascades but once you hike up more than 15 miles it's generally pretty quiet. Lots of car camping too if you're into that.

I miss it there, I'm in Utah now and it's just not the same.

There are a handful of national parks. They're pretty nice.

The big thing is the national forests. The Cascades are covered with them. Same with the Oregon Coast Range, the Ochocos and more.

West of the Cascades, you'll need to learn to like rain. It will rain. Often. For at least 8 months a year.

>>983897
Everybody moves here. Then they realize from October to April the weather fucking sucks. Cold, wet, go to work in the dark come home when it's dark. If you're used to warmer weather I would consider someplace else.

Cold, rainy, and dark 8 months of the year. Seasonal affective disorder is common

You will eventually develop hay fever.

>>983897
>how easy is it to go camping/hiking/backpacking/etc
Easy. Real easy
>Are there lots of cool nearby parks?
Yes. Lots
>>984013
>October to April the weather fucking sucks. Cold, wet, go to work in the dark come home when it's dark. If you're used to warmer weather I would consider someplace else
He's is pretty much spot on. You deal with it or you go someplace else. Its worth it to me.

I posted this on /o/ but you guys might know too

I have a long standing dream of moving to the SeaTac area. I also really, really love motorcycles and riding them.

yeah it's rain city 8 months out of the year

how much does it affect riding? I'm not talking about comfort, I can (and will) always get rain gear.

I mean in the actual technical aspect. Here in florida I can rip around corners because the roads are hot and dry. Can you still hoon well out in the pnw considering the wet pavement most of the time?

>>984129
Mountain biker here. The rain isn't a big deal for riding. Depending on what you'd like to do (logging roads or trails) you may find access to be limited. Also SeaTac blows a big nut sack. Go somewhere else in Wa or Or.

>>984096
>S.A.D

I have a terrible version of this. It's like mega depression and it's awful. I have a great life but every winter I can't stop thinking about suicide. It got to the point where I had to get a light box.
>Considering moving to Arizona so I don't have to spend a third of my life thinking about crashing my car into a guardrail.

>>984204
I live in WA and I'm in the exact same boat. Summers are amazing but I can't drag myself out of bed most of the time in the winter.

>>984204
light box, vitamin D and regular exercise helped me

I went through one winter just a fucking wreck, I'm a grown ass man and I haven't cried since I was 11 and I broke down crying one day in January for just because a customer was slightly rude to me at work. I spoke to a friend who's a counselor and she gave me the above advice and it turned around almost entirely within a week.

>>984298
This is spot on. Been here all my life and the shitty weather can get to you quick if you don't stay busy.

Find an /out/ activity for all times of the year and get some good rain gear. I hike/climb in Spring - Summer, hunt in Fall, and snowshoe in the Winter.

>>984182
Riding wet trails doesn't ruin em?

>>984182
this
Stay away from the big cities

>>984182
>>984323
not op but have had dream of moving to pnw as well. Is the coast on the west side of the sound good? With access to the big cities, but smaller and easier access to the olympics?

>>984312
lots of "trails" are old logging roads. there are a fuck ton of them in the mountains, coast range or cascade foot hills and there are usually gravel. actual singletrack is harder to come by but there are a few good spots for that. OP you should move to Bend or even Spokane if you want an outdoor scene without the crippling depression of January in Seattle or the Willamette Valley. I a road cyclist and do pretty good with things until December, then its depression city til about Feb. 1. Its an oceanic climate so it varies from year to year depending on the ocean temp. Some years its kind of dry and nice, other years its like noah's fucking ark...im in portland which is not what id call ideal for out my backdoor type adventuring. this isnt boulder, built right up against the mountains. to get to any decent trail takes at least an hour drive. we have mountains but your better off going elsewhere if you seek alpine fun. portland is definitely a river town though. if you like boating, fishing, kayaking, swimming and sailing, you can do all of those very easily. the sailing scene is very active. id say that is the best sport to be into here. lots of mup's, hilly terrain in the nearby hills and some good long distance routes. you can even scuba dive within 2 hours of portland if you really wanted too. we have a beach but its mostly just to look at and take walks on. the water is fuck all cold, has rip currents, sharks, sneaker waves, submerged logs and all sorts of crap to kill you. oh, and we do have skiing. thats a high point for alot of people. two decent resorts within two hours. so, to get the most out of things, you do have to put some effort into it. this requires a reliable car and a little effort but if you are willing to do that, you can get out and see some cool shit. portland and seattle are both liberal shitholes, overrun by sjw midwesterners so if thats your bag, you'll love it. if you are mister maga, you'd probably like utah better.

>>984298
>>984276
>>984204


You guys need to take up racquetball .
It will save your souls i promise.
Dont buy a cheap racquet.
This is the cure.
Find a club that has very brightly lit courts.
You will thank me for this advice for decades.

>>984391
>lots of "trails" are old logging roads
for moto yes, for mountain biking no. No not at all.
> to get to any decent trail takes at least an hour drive
Only if you live in the major metropolises.
>portland and seattle are both liberal shitholes
Yeah maybe. But it beats the alternative.

>>984129
Why a dream of seatac? Not exaggerating when I say it is one of the shittiest parts of the entire state.

Most riders don't go out during the wet weather. You've got a few diehards that do, but not many.

>>984801
thats my point. single track on the west side of the cascades is mostly a summer affair. id bargain the gravel scene is over taking mtb too so those roads are getting used all over the place. cities equal jobs but equal far from fun. thats why i suggested bend. the alternative? vancouver, wa or aberdeen? yes, better than those! i dont really dislike liberal cities, but some shit the city does is wackadoo. but we dont have crippling ghetto violence so i choose to stay for that reason...

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Really hard, there are no public parks or forests and anywhere outside a city is filled with itchy-trigger rednecks

Best to avoid

>>985008
>single track on the west side of the cascades is mostly a summer
not north of you.
>aberdeen?
Wat? Seriously?

my list of /out/ approved PNW cities South to north

>Ashland
>Bend
>Eugene
>Hood River
>Olympia
>Port Angeles
>Winthrop <Good luck finding a job here.
>Bellingham

>>983897
cascade Alpine Lakes are top quality overnight backpacking

>>984129
Seatac is literally one of the bottom 4 places to live in the state. Don't move there. As far as motorbikes go, it's a real shitshow. There's some really dedicated bikers that do highway pulls yearround, but the cops are getting kikeyer about speeding as more people move in.

Best bet would be west seattle hoons at 3 am. you can bust across the west seattle bridge to I5 and go back down to coonTac.

The roads are (((generally))) well draining, but because it's a solid 50° all the time and the city doesn't gove a shit about the roads, you're gonna get puddles. Wouldn't recommend tbqh

>>984348
Bremerton is not a 'nice' town, but it's livable. If you can find decent work it's ok. Housing is creeping up again because the californian exodus has begun anew.

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>>984574
ugh. racket ball is for dorks
every time i see people playing its middle age men with dad bods. kick out that 80s magazine knowledge and do real weight lifting too.

>>983897

Easy as fuck. We also have a wide range of environments. We got the coast, all the forests (This also includes a nice rain forest) Desert, mountain's. If you got a passport, you can easily gtfo up to Canada and do even more camping there too. If you don't like rain, then this is not your spot.

WA also has a shitload of even smaller parks, that have like 15+ miles of trails, no camping but fun to get out and just home or mountain bike etc.

We also have a shit ton of state parks here too. I like this place more than I do Alaska, because of all the micro climates (Plus I don't care for snow much)