Mt. Si Take 2

Today we summited Mt. Si for the second time; we went with the Climb for Clean Air group. There was a great turn out of people despite the weather. I'll be honest, on the way out to the trailhead I was really tempted to turn around, head back home, and retuck myself into the covers! It was down pouring rain on the way there! After my experience last week, I knew that I couldn't head up the mountain at too fast of a speed so I did better at keeping a slower steady pace. Katie Younkin was kind enough to walk slowly with me. :)

About three quarters of the way up it started snowing! Yup I said it, snowing! Here we are at the end of April and there were huge white flakes falling down. It didn't start sticking till right before we hit the top. It was a nice change from the rain though, not as wet.

When we suddenly hit the "snow line" it was absolutely gorgeous. Gavin and I had fallen a bit behind the pack and got to enjoy the beauty in quietness. It was so serene. Gavin took a few pictures, attempting to capture the wonder of it. As lovely as it was, we had to keep going up. We came along a group of people all huddled down next to each other along the trail. We stopped to see if they were okay and it turned out their cute little dog had an ice ball and rock stuck in her paw. Little Abby was having a hard time making it down. I couldn’t just keep on hiking without helping. We offered our services by providing a Leatherman to cut the ice chunk out. When they had finished she was so cute and appreciative, she started following us. But after her little fix up she was good as new and was able to finish her way down Mt. Si. At the top I would love to tell you it was gorgeous but you have to remember it's Seattle. The view was all socked in: fog and snow. After a quick bite and some group picture taking we needed to go back down, it was cold up there!!

Before we started to trek back down the mountain I dumped out all my extra water bottles I was carrying for weight. Last week the way down was treacherous on my knees, no need to do that again! It dumped out probably 6 pounds, it definitely felt better. After finishing, about eight of us headed to our new favorite lunch place in North Bend, the North Bend Bar and Grill, then it was home to relax!