Mount Si — Friday, Nov. 8, 2002

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Well, the last few trips were too mellow at the start so the immediate steepness of Mt Si was definitely noticeable. Not much changes on this trail except when it is icy and it was not icy. It was not raining when I started out with about 8 to 10 cars in the lot. It would occasionally decide to spit on the way up but it never amounted to anything. And the trees were not particularly drippy either. There were brief, actually very brief indications of shadows but the clouds predominated. At the top it was quite breezy and chilly. I hit the bench at the saddle by the route up the haystack and then went up to the right just a bit to hide from the wind. Oh, yes, the last 3 or 4 blocks to the basin, the friendly Black Lab was ""dogging"" me with a stick. I was tired and it wanted to play fetch. I bent and picked up the stick and tossed it. He chased it and returned with it over and over! He followed me to my lunch spot and still wanted to play until the food was evident. Then he seemed more interested in that. He lost interest as I was eating and wandered off. My fingers needed overmits and a dry shirt was in order. Headed on down and the fog and rain had picked up. Once down in the woods, it was fine. Black Lab made an appearance again, chasing a stick tossed by a runner. I tossed it a few more times and then lost him as he headed UP again with a doggy friend. Near the bottom, the sun actually made a strong showing. The leaves and lighting were neat. There was mud but not too bad.