Mt. Si: Hike and day trip

Continuing with our preparations for the Inca Trail in Peru in about 6 weeks,  we took on the beautiful Mt. Si just off the town of North Bend. The trail climbs 3100 feet over 4 miles to the summit through alders and firs.

The ascent is continuously steep and entirely through forest, which my 5 year old, handled with panache and a bottle of lemonade.

The mountain is names after Josiah "Uncle Si" Merritt, an early local settler. It is pronounced "Mount Sigh", just like the middle syllable of "Josiah".

The tiring climb does not end with the best of the views, you see some ramparts cascades and an eastbound I-90, but then if you have the right company and the food (and I had both), the summit is a bliss.

The Haystack at the top is optional. While the climb has been made easy by the flocks (75,000 to 100,000 each year) that climb each year, many have died in this relatively short fall. The last mile on both sides is a killer. Remember climbing down is more challenging and taxing than the onward journey. Especially if cannot run down for e.g. you are with a kid…

Notice the typo on the signage.

Mt. Pilchuck: Hike and a day trip

The day on July 28th 2007 looked foggy. As a fact, it was supposed to rain in the morning. We were determined to go. You see , we were doing trial runs for the 2 day Inca trail in Peru.

Mt. Pilchuck ("Red Water" in native American) stands 5324 ft above sea level, with the trail starting at 3100 ft. The 3 mile trail (one way) is the rockiest trail I have seen in the northwest climbing 2000 vertical feet. An average climber like us would take about 3 hours to climb, 2.5 hours to get down.

Make sure you have good climbing shoes before you take on this trail. I used tennis shoes and struggled.

Especially, the last 400 feet is a four limbed climb to the historical fire watch tower built in 1918.

While Rhea (aged 5) was able to do the entire trip on her own, she is not the best of bench mark for kids her age (or twice her age). She can make the Energizer bunny look slothful.

The view of the Cascades, Olympics and Sound from the watch tower is (supposed to be) awesome.

And while we missed the million dollar view, we got enough for us to gasp every now and then …

Getting there: I-5 Exit 194/ east on High way 2 (6miles) /North on HIghway 9/East on Mountain loop highway 11 miles to Verlot.

GPS Address: Surprisingly, I always find it difficult to find an address to plug into my GPS. It takes a while before one can find it. . Here is address for Mt. Pilchuck.

1405 Emens Street
Darrington, WA 98241

After you reach this ranger station (and buy the USFS pass), you drive one mile east on Mountain loop highway and then take right onto forest service road 42 (first right after the bridge) and continue 6.9 miles to the trail head.