rudis dot net

The outlook for the day was overcast with a high of 70°F, so I decided to go hiking (to also allay any concerns out there that I've become only a cyclist).

Given that I was hiking alone and almost completely unfamiliar with the area outside the city, I picked Little Si for my first northwest hike. [Wikipedia (ugh) has a good detail page on this tiny mountain.] It's a left off of exit 32 on I-90 coming from Seattle. Follow these directions and you'll eventually see signs for the Little Si parking area. Bring hand sanitizer and a sound stomach if you plan on using the restroom in the parking lot.

You can choose to literally climb Little Si if you like and there are many markers indicating good spots to start from. Either way, once you get to the top, you get an amazing view of it's larger sibling (aptly named "Big Si") and all you want to do is hike up there after beating this obstacle of nature. The views would have been even better if it weren't so overcast.

My hike turned out to be about 3.5 miles, took ~2 hrs (I spent some time up on at the peak) and went from ~400ft to ~1600ft (with many downs and ups along the way). Families will need a much longer spread since there are some decent hike-climbs that the kids will despise. Luckily, you should be able to keep their spirits up by letting them bound on rocks (plenty of them) and seeing if they can find some wildlife along the way (I saw three, tiny snakes). As far as replenishment goes, individuals should be good with a liter of H₂0 and a snack bar; kids are going to need something a bit more interesting to keep their spirits up. Thankfully, there's plenty of room at the top to have a nice lunch or snack.

It was definitely a good starter hike and I'm looking forward to doing more, especially with Mary and the kids.

You can view my route here [861KB PDF] and pictures from along the hike here. (I'm not sure I want to keep putting thumbnails in the posts from Flickr, but if you'd prefer that, leave me a note in the comments.)