Mount Si

Mount Si
4,167 feet
Evening Hike

One of my climbing partners, Sean, and I arrived at the Mt. Si trailhead at 6:00 pm last night
and started up the trail at 6:10.  After huffing and puffing a bit through the first mile while
we warmed up and tried to catch our second wind, we cruised up the remaining 3 miles to the top
of the trail.  Then we ascended the hundred or so foot scramble up to the summit, arriving at
8:10.  It was a fairly nice hike up the trail.  It is 3,650 feet of elevation gain over 4 miles
through alternating new and old growth forest.  We caught a few nice glimpses through the trees
of the setting sun bathing the forest below with a bright, gold glow.  The scramble up the
haystack was very nice as well.  I'm not very familiar with scramble grades, but it felt like
it was fairly technical.  A scramble is defined as terrain which requires use of all fours, and
this almost felt like a low grade rock climb in some places.  Anyway, there was some very nice
exposure near the top where the route circles around to the north side with quite a drop below
your feet.

We were the only ones up at the summit (quite a feat for Mt. Si), and we sat up there for 20
minutes and watched the sun going down over the Seattle skyline some 30 miles away.  After our
perspiration was good and frozen from the cold wind at the top, we donned our headlamps and
headed back down.  There was enough sunlight left to make the scramble descent fairly easy
going, but as soon as we got under the tree canopy, it was lights out.  After stumbling,
tripping and slipping the 4 miles down the trail, we arrived back at the car at 10:30.  Yes, our
descent took precisely as long as our ascent (2 hours on the dot), but considering our wimpy
knees and the rough terrain we had to negotiate with just our headlamps, that wasn't bad time. 
In fact I was quite happy with the fact that it didn't take longer to descend.  Interesting
sidenote: about half-way down we actually passed a pair of hikers on their way up! 

We barely made it to the North Bend McDonalds before it closed, just in time for a Big n' Tasty
meal.  And boy was it big & tasty. 

All in all, good, fun, quick trip.  And if you don't mind hiking in the dark, it is actually
possible to do Mt. Si and still experience a little solitude.