Saturday, July 14, 2012

Mt. Si

Mt. Si is the large piece of rock that shadows over the town of North Bend, also known as Twin Peaks (based on the tv show).  I grew up always seeing Mt. Si as we would drive by on our way up to Snoqualmie Pass, and yet I hadn't been to the top until a few weekends ago. It was definitely about time!

View of Mt. Si from Rattlesnake Ledge

I met up with a few gals from my meetup group, bright and early at 9am. The trail head was fairly busy for a rainy morning, but we got a parking spot not too far away. The trail itself was fairly nice and not too muddy. It was very easy to follow since it was so well signed. There were plenty of people coming down and going up, so you never really felt alone.


For most of the hike, we were in the forest. And we kept going up, and up, and up! I enjoyed the scenery but was rather bummed that it was cloudy because that meant we weren't going to see anything when we got to the top. And this is what we saw:


None of us climbed the Haystack, as the top rocky part is affectionately called. The rocks were slippery from the mist and we were content with sitting on the rocks down lower to eat lunch. Plus, we couldn't see anything, so it wouldn't be worth the extra effort to climb up higher.



There were quite a few critters up at the top, clamoring for food. Several cute little chipmunks were scurrying around, stealing scraps of food from unsuspecting hikers. A grey jay (aka camp robber) tried to steal one of the gal's sandwich right out of her hand! Unfortunately all of the critters were too fast for my camera, so I didn't get any pictures.


On the way down, it started to pour! All 5 of us got drenched! I had to pull out my rain cover for my backpack for the first time since I bought it because it was raining so hard. There was also a thunderstorm that passed right over us, but we were in the trees by then and weren't worried too much.

I was so thankful I had a change of clothes in the back of my car. I was muddy and soaked from head to toe! I definitely want to try this hike again (and climb the Haystak) on a clear, sunny day.


Total time: 4 hours (up to 6 hours if you take your time)
Distance: 8 miles, 1850 ft elevation gain
Passes: Discover Pass required
Location: 46068 SE Mt Si Rd North Bend, WA (roughly)

Thanks for stopping by!

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