This week started with a run, but 2 hikes and a mountain bike outing over the course of 4 days hurt my legs.
On Wednesday, a friend from work and I went up Mount Si after work. We set a good pace and made it to the top in an hour and forty minutes. Better than my usual 2 hours. We found 3 inches of snow at the top and I had one of the best PB&J sandwiches ever at the top. We ran down the first two miles when 2 things happened at about the same time. First my legs began to fail, but mercifully we ran out of light at roughly the same time. The fellow I was hiking / running with was roughly half my age, so I emphasized the wisdom of walking in the failing light.
On Thursday, I led a group of about 30 up Rattlesnake ledge. The group consisted of folks from all over the US and many were from the Midwest where mountains are few and far between. Some had never hiked before. For many of us, Rattlesnake is a crowded, uninteresting trail with a good view at the end. There are plenty of other places to get a view as good or better with far fewer people.
But that whole equation changes when you've got some new folks to hike with who have never been to the Northwest, never hiked, and never been 'on a mountain'. Under that scenario, Rattlesnake becomes a fairly challenging hike with a great 'ta da' moment at the top. When we got on the ledge, everyone 'oooed' and 'ahhhd' at the view and one was moved to say it was a 'once in a lifetime' experience. Experiencing the hike through their lens was great. Rewarding and satisfying.
While I started out deliberately slow, like any unfamiliar hike, some had mind games going on near the top. 'When are we going to GET there?' was a thought just beneath the surface for some. About 100 yards from the top, another hiker was coming down, saw our group, and knew exactly what to say -- You're almost HALF WAY THERE'. The wind went totally out of the sails for many and it perfectly set up the final few steps to the summit.
After a merciful rest on Friday, (rest for the body, work still taxed the mind), Saturday morning dawned rainy with a daunting task. Let me first say why we're doing this. We set a challenge for ourselves to achieve our own version of 'Summit to Sound, the first Descent'. I'll explain in a later post exactly what we're tying to do, but the challenge involves a relay race from the summit of tiger mountain to below the surface of Puget Sound. The first leg of the race is for Mountain bikes who will link with hikers and start the relay.
So on this morning I met another friend from work who mountain bikes. I have a mountain bike, but I don't use it. I have used it only sporadically since I got it some 15 years ago. My buddy's bike is brand new. He humbly said it was last year's model, but his bike has disc brakes. And very cool shock absorbers. A suspension on a bike! Who knew? My bike has a cool red bag on the back. While there's no bell on the handle bars, it does have that cool red bag. My buddy looked at my bike and smiled. I think he was thinking 'where are the training wheels'.
Any way, we set out in the rain and immediately gained elevation. Then the wind started. And the rain turned to snow. Great. We did make to the top, but there was no view owing to the fog. What took roughly 40 minutes to climb took 7 minutes to descent. 7 terrifying minutes. Back to those shock absorbers. My buddy took the bumps and break neck speed and made it look easy. Every bump transmitted through my body and rattled my brain as I flew down the mountain with brakes that seemed reluctant to hold their end of the bargain.
We traversed the mountain to our planned hand off point to the hikers. 2 hours 45 minutes to snag the peak and get to the meeting point. Exactly one hour -- full of some more terrifying moments -- to get back. Cool. Incredibly muddy from head to foot, but cool.
