Mt. Si Sunset
I have no right writing this entry since I don't have any proof with pictures. Around 3:30 PM today will all hell breaking loose at work, I decided to just bail at 5 and do Mt. Si. It would take me at least an hour to get to the trailhead from Downtown which meant that I would likely be descending in the dark but I have a good headlamp and know the trail pretty damn well.
On the ascent, I decided to mix things up a bit and take the Talus Loop trail and ford roaring creek to get to get to the Mt. Teneriffe trail. Way easier than I thought and headed back up to Si. Took a 15 minute break on the talus portion (with gorgeous views of Mailbox Peak and North Bend) which is where I discovered that I failed to turn off my camera after Sunday's trip to Deception Pass. Damn. My first Mt. Si sunset and no pics. Oh well, I thought, the season is young. On up I trudged.
I finally reached the summit at 8:40ish and did the short, yet so easy scramble to the very peak (not something I usually do on Si) and watched the sun set behind Mt. Olympus through a scattering of cirrus clouds. Then came the fun part. Impressed by my LED headlamp's illumination, I proceeded carefully down the rockfall below the Haystack and entered the forest. Hiking at night is fun!! Near the 3rd mile marker, I saw an older couple going up and I was floored. Then at Snag Flats (just below the 2 mile marker) I saw a whole line of bobbing lights. These people are nuts.
Near the cairn that marks the lower entrance to the Talus loop trail and I was scared stiff when I heard a voice but couldn't see a damn thing. I quickly scanned the area and just about fell over when my headlamp's beam caught the white's of this girl's eyes. She and a friend had come across the ferry from Bremerton and were doing a night hike of Mt. Si. They had stopped for a break and switched their lamps off to enjoy the darkness. LOL. I was panting from fear but managed to keep my speech patterns normal. Her name was Sara (without the H as I remember her making a big deal about this) and I didn't catch her friend's name. Their plan was to hike up to the Haystack and descend via the Talus Loop. She had some questions about the condition of Talus and then I was off. I thought about joining them and might have if my legs weren't about ready to just give out right then and there from fatigue. I never imagined so many people would do this kind of hiking at night.
Made it down in a little over an hour which is flying considering the terrain and darkness.
The kicker was when I arrived at the lot, I counted 16 cars excluding the US Forest Service van. Sweet jebus that's crazy.
I paid $3.49 a gallon at Shell station in Downtown North Bend.
