Hi everyone. I’m an international student and I’m enjoying my last year in the US. I’m trying to see as many places as I can, meet as many people, and try new things. I have been in the major cities like NYC, Chicago,a and Miami and it’s been great. However, I never liked those places as much as the natural places like Rocky Mountains or Smoky Mountains.
The problem is that I’m a solo traveler and I want to explore Washington state mountains. I did my research and the national parks are amazing. However, It’s really expensive to rent a car as there are more fees for young drivers. I wonder if there are travelers groups services like a bus or hiking group in which I can possibly join to be able to cut down hundreds of dollars ? Your help is appreciated!
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Does your college have an outdoors club? Some of them have really great ones that will set up transport and sightseeing for groups of students and even supply equipment for cheap or free.
You can get to [Olympic National Park](https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/directions.htm) using transit. You can use [Amtrak or bus](https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm) to get to North Cascades NP. There are [guide and tour services](https://visitrainier.com/transportation-and-tours/) to Mt Rainier NP.
You can find [guide services](https://www.mountaineers.org/) that do trips as well.
Most of North Cascades is backcountry, requiring permits and you’ll need backpacking gear to explore. Mt Rainier and Olympic have a lot more day use areas, but also extensive backcountry. So it just sort of depends on what exactly you want to do when you visit.
I’ve certainly heard of hiking groups in the Seattle area that head to the mountains together. I’ve never joined one, so don’t have any specific leads for you, but they certainly exist. Google should let you find some you could join up with to get you to/from the mountains and have hikes you can join with a group.
If you sign up for AAA, the young driver fees are waived if you book through their participating rental car agencies. They also usually give a pretty good discount for the AAA rate. A basic membership is something like $5/mo so you could just do a couple months when you wanted to go.
Ive always wanted to see Utah. Looks like there are some organized tours that might suit what you’re looking for 🙂 Look for Utah hiking tours on trip advisor.
I lived in central Washington for a time and I’m not sure you’re going to find services like that from the eastern side of the mountains. There are trail guides, hunting/fishing guides, but that also costs money so maybe not what you’re looking for. I’d suggest starting from Seattle -which is a really fun city. So is Portland, or Vancouver, and the whole coast between them is beautiful and there’s lots of hiking nearby, no matter where you go. The peninsula is also great.
It may be possible to find a rideshare situation but no one uses Craigslist anymore so I wouldn’t know where to begin, but if you can make it up over Snoqualmie some way, some how, Leavenworth, Cle Elum and Wenatchee aren’t really very far from Seattle. A couple hours drive. Fun small towns and totally surrounded by nature. This time of year especially, it’s some of the most beautiful forests I’ve ever seen.
Happy travels.
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