Hiking Mt. Si

Not to rub it in the faces of those suffering from the big snow storm but we've been having temperatures right along in the mid 50's and even some sunshine! With such nice weather, Joe and I decided to venture into the outdoors. We hiked to the top of Mt. Si on Saturday. This mountain is part of the Cascades and starts at 1300 ft. in elevation and climbs to just under 4,000 ft. Here's a link to some more info: http://www.mountsi.com/
It was 8 miles round trip and took about 5 hours. The nice weather brought lots of people out so we never felt alone. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of temperature so I wanted to be prepared. I put on the layers, added my "special" hiking boot socks and the boots, and topped my outfit off with my new hiking backpack. Joe was laughing at me as I applied a "light" face of makeup before leaving and I told him I wanted to look "awake" for all the passerbys. (of course I got an eye roll here :-) It took us about 30 minutes to get to the summit of the mountain and the parking lot was packed! Soon into our journey I began to shed my layers as it was quite warm. One of the things I love about hiking out here is that everyone is so friendly; giving hellos and smiles as you pass them on the trail. I guess the fresh air and the feeling of being in touch with nature can't help but make a person feel more friendly. I realized soon into our hike that my hiking "outfit" was lacking in some accessories. Many people were carrying trekking poles, gators (these look like black sleeves that go on the bottom of the pant leg so that pebbles don't get into your boots), and a dog. Personally I feel like trekking poles are just an extra thing to carry but the I understood why people were carrying them when we got to the top of the mountain. The trail is marked every half mile and we took pictures with smiling faces at mile 1.5. I kept telling Joe that I needed the picture in front of the 4.0. The incline between miles 3 and 4 were tough and if I did have my picture taken within that time frame I'm not sure it would have been with a smiling face. When we got to what I thought was the top, there were beautiful views of the snow covered mountains and a very large pile of rocks behind us. What I didn't know was that we had to climb those piles of rocks to continue our journey to the top. Okay-no big deal, I can handle that. We get over the rocks to find our feet in slushy snow and high winds. Now I see where the trekking poles would come in handy. We continue to hike up in search of the 4.0 and the trail starts to narrow. Not only does it narrow but it suddenly stops in front of a vertical wall of rocks about 200 ft. in height. As I stood and watched guys going up I felt the beginning of a panic attack and tears. I told Joe I didn't think I could do it. Amongst the guys a female appeared and she started to tackle the wall like it was no big deal. I thought if she could do it then I could do. With some gentle coaching from Joe and focus only on the next rock that I could put my foot into (and not the drop behind me), we made our way to the very top. We could see the mountains and off to the distant right the skyline of Seattle. It was so small it looked like it could fit in the palm of our hand. I looked to the left and right and the first words out of my mouth was that I was ticked that there wasn't a sign with the 4.0 mile marker. After all that work! The wind was whipping and although the view was beautiful, I was more focused on how we were going to get down. We did a lot of sitting, legs out to next rock, sitting, legs out and repeat. I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time and was very grateful when my feet were back on the ground. I felt triumphant at accomplishing something I feared but I also just wanted to get the heck out of the blustering wind and snow. I did have gloves in my "survival" backpack but I didn't trust them to grip the rock in our descent down so I could barely feel my fingertips when all was said and done. After our climatic climb to the top, we started heading down. Going down is almost harder as there is a lot of pressure in the knees and your toes are constantly hitting the front of your boots. By the time we made it to the final mile, I wasn't sure my legs would make it. They did and we were both very happy to see the parking lot full of cars in sight. The day ended with a hot shower and a good meal. I slept for 12 hours and woke up to pain in every muscle in my body. I have a feeling I may not be able to take the stairs for the next couple of days. Was it worth it? I think the experience and the pictures give that answer a definite yes!