Being lazy and not wanting to contend with possible postholing as well as the fact that the weatherman's predicted partial sun today was not in evidence early this morning, Mt Si it was. And on that note, not much has changed since last Sat. The midweek rains did not appear to increase the mud quotient. Again breezy near the top. No doggie to chase sticks this week but as I was heading down a couple were a bit nonplussed about a golden retriever that was dogging them on the way up. I gather they could not ditch the beastie! Now let's see who makes it out in tomorrow's predicted rains and winds...... (G)

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.

In need of some quick vertical in-between business in North Bend 2/3's of the trail team scampered up Si to see if we could see any moisture on the horizon. The views were splendid as the tips of the Olympics poked just above the heavy layer of smog shouding pugetropolis. Lots of sun and a nice cool wind to remind us that it really was just 36F in the parking lot an hour and fifteen minutes earlier. The pesky winged creatures took turns swooping at our lunch as we gazed upon the beauty of the Snoqualmie Valley. We can confirm a nice lenticular cloud on Rainier, a hopeful sign of on-shore flow and moisture on the way. Quick trip down amid much uphill traffic out to enjoy what may be the end of this wonderful, but dry, spell of weather we've enjoyed the last few months. Here's to a few good weeks of rain, water in the rivers for the fish and a come from behind snowpack so we can put the skis and snowshoes to use soon! -Donald Larkin Trail Team (2/3's) ""Let it Snow""

I had a few hours in the afternoon, so I went hiking. I'd heard of ""the old trail"" up Mount Si, but only knew that it started at the Little Si trailhead. Hiking up that trail, I took the 2nd right turn after it levelled out (I should have taken the third!). Unaware that I was on the wrong trail, I hiked up to some mossy boulders with bolts sticking out of the moss. ""Crazy climbers"", I thought, but the next joke was on me as I was lured into deep and steep brush by dozens of flags and pieces of string tied along the trees. ""BRH PRJ"" said the flagging. 30 minutes later, I got back on the trail which dropped to a road. The road then climbed to a scary ""Meth lab"" looking house. I heard someone crashing around near the house, so I bushwhacked to the road higher up, not wishing to disturb someone(thing?). At least the road kept going up, albeit slowly. Eventually, I hit the old trail! Boy was I happy! I scurried up the steep switchbacks like a field mouse, cunningly reaching the main trail mere yards from the boulderfield. I scrabbled to the tip top summit, dodging falling rocks and bodies as Mr. Manning suggests. Mountains to the east were socked in and rainy. North Bend popped and fizzed through the afternoon, the celebrations getting underway. I ran down the trail, and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw another person on it at 2000 ft! He had gotten disoriented, and his legs were tired and sore. Just to be safe, we stuck together until reaching the paved road. What a great trail it is, and forgiving of my routefinding errors!

A trace of mud but that may be more due to the humidity than rain! At about 3 miles, some bear grass is blooming. It, the bear grass, and other blooms added a wonderful perfume to the basin. Instead of bearing left to the view of the Snoqualmie Valley, stay straight and there is bear grass, lupine, flox, paint brush and others. Really fine. Chilly at the bench. Did not feel like July is tomorrow. And sneaking in a few other trail comments for those who need to know: Just some small patches of snow on the slopes of Mt Dana off Tioga Pass, some patches between Tenaya Lake and Clouds Rest but not from there to Half Dome and down to the Valley. Keep on hiking