At 6:00 AM we started at Rd 9020 intersection with McClellan Butte trail 1015 -- there's room for a few vehicles just up the road. Trying for an early start on a long day of attempting McClellan, Mailbox and Si with no motorized vehicles in between, for a solstice epic. The trail was great where WTA work party had been! Some blowdowns around 2800-3000' then snow most of the way up, with numerous fairly steep gullies to traverse or ascend. Snow was stable on our way up, but ice axes a must. We used mountaineering boots, and took crampons but did not need. The rock at summit was dry and bare. Great views, and warm, sunny weather with a welcome SW breeze. Marmots in the rock. Snow was softening on the way down by 10 AM, with a stream running into one gully under the snow. Several short self-arrests among our party while going down. Early start recommended. From the 9020 road intersection, a switch for most of us to running shoes and hydration packs, then a jog down to X38, up road to the fire training center, and up an unofficial side trail to intersect the Mailbox Peak trail and to the peak. Lots of lupine, paintbrush, beargrass in bloom at the top, where we met 4 hikers with dogs Shadow and Mocha, who have been to many peaks with their lady who gives an Indian call from the top of each one. Trail is dry and decent shape. A snow patch at top for cooling tired muscles. Signed in at the mailbox, and went down the main trail. At the bottom we had bikes stashed, and rode west starting ~5 PM to Mt Si Road and to Little Si parking lot (~6 mi). Took Little Si trail to old Big Si Trail to the haystack, where half the party scrambled to the top while the other half donated blood to mosquitoes. A couple arrived to just enjoy the full moon. Back to the lot at 9:45 PM in the fading daylight, still warm. Total vertical gain ~10,000', loss ~11,000', and 30-32 miles. Tired and happy crew.

Started out early at 0445 hours, and approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes later, found myself standing next to the mailbox. I had forgotten just exactly how steep the trail was...or how relentless. Maybe it was from hiking Mt. Si two days early. The trail was completely clear of snow (including the rock field), but there were plenty of little red biting flys near the top. I wore my head net the first time...a good investment. Looks silly, but it's better than getting those evil red flys in the corner of your eye. Made it back down the mountain by 0900 hours. Didn't pass anyone else up or down. The sun was just hitting my car as I arrived at the bottom.

This one starts where the dirt begins on the MFK road just a ways up the road from Ken's Truck stop (Exit 34, I-90). Find the first pile of cars and park there, elevation 820 ft. A coworker and I left cubicle land a bit early today and headed out to North Bend under increasingly marginal skies. The summit was visible from I-90 then A.J. mentioned that he'd never been up there when it wasn't socked in and that pretty much took care of that! (grin) A few cars in the lot when we pulled in, but we didn't see another sole until we were about 1000 ft from the summit. We hiked the dirt road to the east a ways then headed up the unmarked trail, blah, blah, blah, we all know how the rest goes...it's steep! We made steady progress up to the first talus field where the first significant snow starts. Easily avoidable, the snow primarily occupies the wooded area to the left of the talus field (the location of the main trail as well). Up the talus we went until we intersected the trail again at about 4300 ft. From here it was an easy push up the last 500 ft or so, past the false summit, and then on to the mailboxes (actually a mailbox and a box for a newspaper!), elevation 4841 ft. No summit views and it was cold, so we only stayed 10 to 15 minutes. We saw a couple folks on the way down, but for the most part the mountain was uncrowded and pleasant today. Doing the math, we pushed out 4000 ft of gain in roughly 2.5 - 3 miles.

Little muddy up to ""hand-hold log"" where we diverted from the main trail to an easier primative trail which heads toward the fire training center. At 2400 feet elevation the trail crosses the main trail and in about 300 ft horizontal travel connects with the west ridge trail. The west ridge trail can also be accessed at 2200 ft from the main trail. The west ridge trail avoids the muddy rooty southwest face trail below 3500 feet. At the base of the rock slide we were confronted with 3 options. 1. Climb the snow-free rocks to the right. 2. Climb the snow-covered rocks straight ahead. 3. Climb the snow-covered trail through the trees to the left. Our group did all three. Some were pleased with their choices - some were not. I found the tree route quite satifactory. Holy-moly twenty five people on top. No problem -lots of room up there. A warm cloudy day. We lazed around for about an hour taking picture of people taking pictures before plunging down to the flat land to enjoy our liquid refreshments awaiting in our cars.

What a great workout! The day was beautiful and Rainier was out and in all her glory. The trail started out muddy in spots and continued to be that way until you left the trees. We opted to go up the snow patch and then the rest of the way the trail is clear. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the top,signed in and began our trip down. Just as we were to the top of the snow,we met a gentleman who stepped over a bit to pass and he immediatiely fell through the snow into a BIG hole. Hiker2 went to help and found himself also in a big hole. Once getting out, he helped the gentleman also get out and no one was worse for the ware. Be careful though ~ the snow is melting out and bridges are giving way! We all laughed and went on our way. Back to the car in an six hour evolution and a great day!