Mount Si
Jul 18, 2012
by
Moby
—
last modified
Jul 19, 2012 11:09 AM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Mount Si
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- North Bend Area
- Agency: Department of Natural Resources, South Puget Sound Region
- Avg Rating: 3.97
- Why You Should Go Now
- Wildflowers blooming
Hoping the low clouds plaguing the West Side would dissipate, Baby Girl and The Boy joined me for our first trip up Mt. Si. Too many milkshake stops in North Bend on the way back from the East Side have concluded with "when are we going to climb that thing?", so this was the day. Since Herself climbed it back in high school with her CYO group, she declined the opportunity, so it was just we 3 setting off from the TH at 8:30 AM. There were already 15 cars in the lot; not bad for a gloomy, misty Wednesday.
We met at least two dozen people coming down, including 18 young soldiers who were on what look like a non-voluntary training session. The trail is in nice shape, and the forest is really pretty, even in overcast gloom. Humidity made it easy to work up a sweat!
Reached the open rocks at the top by 11 AM and had lunch. We were in a cloud sandwich; no views of the ground, no distant high peaks, but we could see foothills that were under 6000 feet. The sun started to burn off the mist as we clambered around the summit rockpile for more views, but decided against scrambling the Haystack, as one of our party preferred the latrine options at the parking lot to anything found up there. We never got the wider views we hoped for, but the sun did come out a bit as we descended at 11:45 AM. We passed about 50 people coming up, including 20 from a nearby youth day camp. Hope all those little ones made it up safely!
Lots of dogs accompanying their owners, and lots more earbuds in hikers than I am used to. We don't hike near Seattle much, and maybe the music is an urban thing? You can't hear the stream or the wind or the birds if you're "somewhere else". But hiking is personal.
Back at the parking lot, we tried the "baking soda" drink (chased with soda POP!) recommendation found on p. 39 of the Jul-Aug WTA magazine, and I didn't feel as stiff after our 1.5 hour drive home. Think I'll try that trick again to see if it really works. Try Si..on a weekday.
We met at least two dozen people coming down, including 18 young soldiers who were on what look like a non-voluntary training session. The trail is in nice shape, and the forest is really pretty, even in overcast gloom. Humidity made it easy to work up a sweat!
Reached the open rocks at the top by 11 AM and had lunch. We were in a cloud sandwich; no views of the ground, no distant high peaks, but we could see foothills that were under 6000 feet. The sun started to burn off the mist as we clambered around the summit rockpile for more views, but decided against scrambling the Haystack, as one of our party preferred the latrine options at the parking lot to anything found up there. We never got the wider views we hoped for, but the sun did come out a bit as we descended at 11:45 AM. We passed about 50 people coming up, including 20 from a nearby youth day camp. Hope all those little ones made it up safely!
Lots of dogs accompanying their owners, and lots more earbuds in hikers than I am used to. We don't hike near Seattle much, and maybe the music is an urban thing? You can't hear the stream or the wind or the birds if you're "somewhere else". But hiking is personal.
Back at the parking lot, we tried the "baking soda" drink (chased with soda POP!) recommendation found on p. 39 of the Jul-Aug WTA magazine, and I didn't feel as stiff after our 1.5 hour drive home. Think I'll try that trick again to see if it really works. Try Si..on a weekday.
Document Actions
- Email this page
- Print this
- Share
