Urban Outcast Music #44 - If We Were Vampires cover by The National Parks. Originally by Jason Isbell but it gets a little heavy hearing him sing it with his wife.
Bridal Veil Falls - 4 miles, 1,000' gain
Another WA three-peat for me but also an opportunity to introduce the neighbor to a more mountainous destination. The previous two visits included hiking on to Lake Serene but we didn't have the time or gear to make the trip up to the lake this time.
Back to 2021: we had an un-forecasted clear day to appreciate the Skykomish valley and after finishing the hike we lounged briefly on the South Fork boulders while Oak worked to reduce all of the driftwood to mulch.
Boulder Garden Loop + Old Si Trail - 8.3 miles, 3,420' gain
Hiked this one in April but there was slush falling at the trailhead (only 500' above sea level) and over a foot of fresh powder on the summit so I'm counting this one as the winter finale. This route to the Si summit starts off in the Boulder Garden Loop, an impressive collection of house sized rocks. If you don't need the blisters, this is a good hike to combo with the Little Si summit.
I didn't know about the blisters yet so we took the unlabeled turn up the hill and quickly started making fresh tracks in the night's snow at a slope of over 1,000'/mile. I had thought pushing the 100# sled that is a tandem stroller loaded with two well fed boys up and down Seattle hills would keep me in shape but I was mistaken. Only took about 2 miles before I started falling well off my average 2.8 mph ascent. I think it got all the way down to 1.8 mph by the time we reached the top.
In a first for the winter, we did cross a single track in the snow. Probably a black tail deer but I like to think it was one of the mountain goats relocated from Olympic National Park slowly working his way home. Right near the top, the trail meets up with the more popular Mt Si route and the relatively packed down trail made me notice that I could blame some of the fatigue on making a fresh trail through 4-6" of powder.
Once at the "lunch spot" we found that the route to the Snoqualmie valley overview and the summit were both feeling lonely so Oak got to explore some snow that must have been uncomfortably close to his belly. Or at least I thought he should feel that way instead of judging me for turning around before we scrambled up the true summit.
PS - As a reward for making it this far, you get a poop story. Orrin felt it was unfair that his dirty laundry was aired in this forum but now I'll balance the scale - Kal recently joined me for his first shower with daddy. All went well and I handed him off to his mother for drying. He promptly crawled under the dinning room table (his designated spot) and did his business. But this time he didn't have a diaper and was crawling in his own filth. I was peacefully enjoying the warm water when a poop covered baby was handed back around the curtain for his second shower with daddy... I hope they will forgive me someday, probably will take a few years after I share the stories with their respective prom dates.
