It is that time of year again.
Conditioning time.
Too much snow to go to our favorite high places so
Lori got an idea and said let's do a ""triad"".
So we met a Exit 20 off I-90 at the W. Tiger 3
trailhead at 6 a.m.
First on the list was W. Tiger 3's dreaded ""cable route""
pretty much straight up. Chris, Lori and I started out
pacing ourselves for the long day ahead.
In little over an hour we were on top, cloudy no
view but no wind. 45 minutes down.
Cable conquered: 4 miles roundtrip, 2,000' gain.
A short drive took us to Mt. Si trailhead and we started
up at 8:45 am. Parking lot only one-third full.
On top in two hours, still cloudy, but no wind, no rain.
Took us almost two hours to get down as we always stepped
aside for the hordes coming up.
Mt. Si done: 8 miles, 3200' gain.
We took a fifteen minute break on the picnic table for
some hydration and Lori's excellent chocolate chip cookies.
Then drove to Little Si parking lot which, of course was
100% full as was the side of the road.
A steady pace was maintained and we were on top in almost
exactly one hour. Again almost as long to descend yielding to
uphill hikers. Now we are really ""wiped out"" and delighted that
this is our last leg(pun very much true).
Little Si done: 5 miles, 1,500 gain (1200 in 300 out). This is
a beautiful hike if you can do it mid-week or early to avoid
huge crowds.
We were very lucky as the rain held off all day.
""Triad"" done!
Three summits: 17.2 miles and 6,700' gain
That IS conditioning.
(Mt. Si snow free - except patches Haystack basin).
Kyozen