Mailbox Peak - Old Trail — Saturday, Mar. 7, 1998

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

I tried to hike up to Mailbox peak today. This trail is not for anyone even slightly out of shape, it's brutal and unforgiving, especially in the rain and snow. It started out easy enough just muddy until you get to the blow down by the side of the trail with the hand pegs in it. These pegs are necessary because this is the start of the real trail, it goes straight up. Rarely bothering to switchback I found myself exauhsted after mabye a half mile. Any sane person will stop at the tree with the pegs in it and call it a day; being content to go back to North Bend and have some coffee. By about a mile or so (the trails supposedly only two) you will wish you were back home nice and cozy, not sweating and not wet. If you're as stupid as me you will continue on through the snow and ice on the barely visible trail and go up and up and up. We kind of made it to the summit but as soon as we got there we headed back down because it was freezing. Our sweashirts and rain jackets didn't help at all. Going back down is almost as painful as going up with all the snow ice and mud on the trail but I finally made it back down in one piece. I won't put directions in this report in hopes that no one will ever try to find it.