Met up with Lance and Cole at the Eastgate park-and-ride at 9 and cruised out to North Bend for a lap up Mount Si via the Old Si / “outside” trail. Bluebird skies in Seattle, but once we pulled into North Bend it was socked in—cloud deck sitting somewhere around 1,000 feet.
We hiked the first half in and out of clouds, then around 2,500 feet popped above the layer into full sun. Classic inversion magic. The valley was buried under a white blanket and we had clear views stretching out in every direction. Light snow started around 2,500–3,000 feet—just a dusting. Microspikes would’ve added a little efficiency, but they weren’t necessary. I had poles, which helped with stability. Summit temp was probably around 40°, no wind to speak of. Honestly pretty comfortable.
It was crowded up top. Hard to fully settle in for lunch when people are basically climbing over you trying to tag the summit block. Same story on the way down—steady stream of hikers breathing down your neck to pass. Comes with the territory.
We logged 8.88 miles round trip with about 3,500 feet of gain on Strava. Solid training hike whether I’m feeling particularly grateful for “training” or not. You don’t get stronger wishing for it.
Post-trail we cracked some High School Creek Brewing pilsners in the parking lot and had a surprisingly deep conversation about Brutalism. As you do.
Overall: beautiful inversion day, good effort, well-earned miles. Always worth getting out of bed for that.
We hiked the first half in and out of clouds, then around 2,500 feet popped above the layer into full sun. Classic inversion magic. The valley was buried under a white blanket and we had clear views stretching out in every direction. Light snow started around 2,500–3,000 feet—just a dusting. Microspikes would’ve added a little efficiency, but they weren’t necessary. I had poles, which helped with stability. Summit temp was probably around 40°, no wind to speak of. Honestly pretty comfortable.
It was crowded up top. Hard to fully settle in for lunch when people are basically climbing over you trying to tag the summit block. Same story on the way down—steady stream of hikers breathing down your neck to pass. Comes with the territory.
We logged 8.88 miles round trip with about 3,500 feet of gain on Strava. Solid training hike whether I’m feeling particularly grateful for “training” or not. You don’t get stronger wishing for it.
Post-trail we cracked some High School Creek Brewing pilsners in the parking lot and had a surprisingly deep conversation about Brutalism. As you do.
Overall: beautiful inversion day, good effort, well-earned miles. Always worth getting out of bed for that.
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