Mt. Si
Date: February 11, 2012
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,400 Feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Wet to packed snow on top
Hiking with: Rick Massie, Andrew Whitford & my wonder dog Macho

I and two other co-workers, Rick Massie and Andrew Whitford from Ipswich, UK decided to hike Mt. Si. It really didn’t matter what hike or peak we chose, there wasn’t going to be a view due to the soupy cloud cover. We met at our usual spot in North Bend, Washington and then headed to the trailhead. As we all know, Mt. Si can be quite busy on weekends, but….it wasn’t so bad this morning. I parked in my usual spot near the service entrance and we got geared up.

For February, it was actually not so cold; I just wore a dri-fit shirt to the top. Near the summit it started to snow, but only for 10 minutes. This was Andy’s first Northwest hike and I think he was exhilarated by all the spiraling trees, ferns and moss. At the top I boiled up some water for some instant Starbuck’s coffee, the hot coffee reduced the wet chill in our bodies.

At the end of the decent, I gave Macho the wonder dog a bath in the creek near the trailhead. After getting out of our wet gear, we met with my wife Linna Wei at Blue Ginger in Bellevue, Washington for some Korean barbeque.