[mbannister]

Hey all. I'm contemplating moving to washington and was wondering if anyone had suggestions of good places to live. Obviously good boating is a plus. I'm also looking for great backcountry skiing, alpinism, mountain biking and rockclimbing (trad and big) is always good. A steep ski area with abundant snowfall nearby doesn't hurt either.

So far levenworth and bellingham have been suggested by friends. I presently wait tables but having "real jobs" nearby would also be nice. Any suggestions?

Mike

 

[FLOWTORCH]

Hey all. I'm contemplating moving to washington and was wondering if anyone had suggestions of good places to live. Obviously good boating is a plus. I'm also looking for great backcountry skiing, alpinism, mountain biking and rockclimbing (trad and big) is always good. A steep ski area with abundant snowfall nearby doesn't hurt either.

So far levenworth and bellingham have been suggested by friends. I presently wait tables but having "real jobs" nearby would also be nice. Any suggestions?

Mike

A steep ski area with abundant snowfall nearby. You are clearly talking about Mt. Baker.

Everyone will basically agree on this one and say Bellingham. And I'd probably agree as well. Though Levy may have better climbing closer, not sure, dont climb anymore. Levy is close to some great kayaking as well, though I'm not sure the season is as long as it is over here on the westside.

But Bham has lots of alpinism opportunities around with the Cascades. Mt Baker and Shuksan would be in your backyard and both are pretty incredible. Lots of other hills and hiking too. Mountain Biking is incredible in Bham. Galbraith is insane.

Its WA so the kayaking is gonna be pretty good. The whole Nooksack drainage is your friend. A little bit south where I am and there is lots of creeking and river running to be had. Robe and Canyon creek are 15minutes away from me. There is also epic sea kayaking to keep you on the water year round here. Yes I said epic. San Juan Islands, Bellingham Bay, Puget sound, etc. Bellingham would be a much more exciting town to live in as far as waiting and nightlife. Plus you got Seattle. And B.C. ..forgot to mention B.C.-Whole nother chapter..

 

[Claytonious]

Bellingham is certainly an incredible place to live, with good skiing, incredible mountain biking, and great boating. I lived there about ten years ago and it had one of the worse unimployment rates in the country. With all of the college kids in a relatively small town you might have fierce competition as a waiter. Good luck finding a real job there.

Seattle is pretty good for a big city, with better job options, and good biking, kayaking and skiing relatively close.

Some of the best places to live in Washington are in Oregon also... Have you considered Portland? Hood River is probably one of the best all around choices for outdoor recreation in the entire world. It has insane mt. biking and kayaking options, great skiing, and windsurfing. Job options will be limited in Hood River unless you are a nurse, or an engineer and then they are pretty good.

Also... a little further to the south is Bend Oregon with much better weather, great climbing, mountain biking and kayaking. Just a thought.

 

[Mark the dude]

Anywhere but Spokane.

 

[dirtbagkayaker]

Sorry to say. I don't like the cascades. The snow is heavy and wet (cascade concrete) and totally over priced and crowded. Lots of privite property. Spokane looks good on paper, several waves on the spokie and 5 ski areas within 1.5 hours. But the town is total butt rock heaven with no jobs and loaded down with fat people.

Go to Oregon.

 

[turtle83]

Bellingham, Leavonworth, or Hood River. For everything you mentioned I'd say Leavonworth. I moved from CO to leavonworth in 2007-8 and worked night lifts at Stevens Pass and at a Pub in town. Great backcounty and even better side county and the snow was acually pretty dry most of the time and lots of it we got a 100 inch dump overnight. Levy is the place to be in wa if you wanna climb, and obviously there is amazing boating(boat in the day ski at night!). I would say bellingham for everything but the climbing, it does have a better boating season being on the wetside and the N cascades are sick (Baker hello!) Depends if you want to live in the snow or just play in the snow, if you like to see the sun or love the rain, like a bigger town or a smaller town. Hood river is sick boating is unreal and biking is amazing and Mt. Hood is 40 min away, not much climbing but the boating makes up for that. If you commercial guide or safety-boat and like watching UFO's being based on the white salmon is where its at, WWcompanies acually pay good and your surrounded by beautiful rivers and waterfalls. You can't go wrong unless you live in SpoKompton(my playboat and AT2 got stolen off the side of the river within 5 min of scouting on my way to paddle Montana this summer). Personally right now I like being in the gorge in the center of the cascades where you get the best of both worlds as natives say "where the rain meets the sun".

 

[jimr]

Leavenworth is unreal, best trad climbing area in the west besides Yosemite, Bunch of big rivers and creeks in the area though not sure what the ratings/boating is like, i have only climbed in that area. Its truly a backcountry town/area. Property is pretty reasonably priced too. Or move to Seattle and have big city life with everything at your fingertips, BC only 3 hours away, Portland only 3 hours away...lots to do in a quick drive, tons of boating, climbing, hiking, fishing, and skiing.

 

[jimr]

I also recommend bend OR that town is sick...lots to do in 20 min drive. Don't bother worrying about a ski resort out there the backcountry is unreal and super safe.

 

[H2UhOh]

There is also epic sea kayaking to keep you on the water year round here. Yes I said epic. San Juan Islands, Bellingham Bay, Puget sound, etc.
..forgot to mention B.C.-Whole nother chapter..

That's why I'm moving to WA coast next year! Olympic Peninsula. Yeah, I'll gladly take rain instead of snow.

The range of sea kayaking venues in WA is huge and I'm looking forward to living there. LOL, now I can also justify having trained so much for "real sea kayaking." Especially after having gotten bitten by the surf bug.

The hiking looks fantastic, too, and there's so much wilderness nearby.

Can hardly wait.

 

[tripple]

It only rains at Baker. They have no high speed lifts, they rope off all the good stuff and they often open late due to the "rain." Go to Alpental.

 

[slamkal]

I think Mt Bachelor has some of the nicest snow in the Cascades. Plus tons of good snowshoeing, mountain bike singletrack, and Bend is very affordable because of bad economy and housing crash. Hood river is very nice but not cheap since its so close to Portland

 

[tomrefried]

It only rains at Baker. They have no high speed lifts, they rope off all the good stuff and they often open late due to the "rain." Go to Alpental.

Sea kayaking is as bad in the San Juan islands as the snow is at Baker, There's no orcas, it's overcrowded, and it rains all summer. And there's no whitewater kayaking here either, I don't know how all the stories got started about WA. being a great place to live.

 

[Claytonious]

Sea kayaking is as bad in the San Juan islands as the snow is at Baker, There's no orcas, it's overcrowded, and it rains all summer. And there's no whitewater kayaking here either, I don't know how all the stories got started about WA. being a great place to live.

Nice try. Yeah stay out of Washington, it sucks, nothing to see here, too crowded...

 

[GBWW]

Leavenworth

Leavenworth is my home, everything you are looking for is here, or nearby. The only other choice I would look at is Hood River Oregon, or Bingen WA. You pick up burlier whitewater and prettier people as well as the whole windsurfing/kiteboarding thing.

See you on the river!

-Dan

 

[Kendi]

I live in North Bend (near Snoqualmie pass). Lots of hiking, boating and skiing nearby. I used to live in B-ham for a few years as well. Similar fun available there too.

I'm in the Leavenworth area nearly every weekend in the spring/summer. I agree- fun place to be.

 

[eljim]

I miss hwy 2, Steven's Pass, and the Sky drainage. 3 years @ Ft Lewis and that was my fav drainage.

 

[JustinJam]

I lived in tacoma and the olympic pennisula for 7 years. great stuff. best advice i could give is buy a dry suit. just to walk around in.

 

[H2UhOh]

Buy a drysuit just to walk around in? LOL, that separates the locals from the visitors. The locals walk around in their regular clothes (no raincoat or umbrella) even when drizzle ramps up to full-on rain.

Me, I may carry a small umbrella or a poncho, until the amphibian adaptation occurs. Drysuit or full wetsuit for paddling the cold ocean, yes.