Little Si Summit

Jake & I made it to the Little Si summit today!  Yay!  I really didn't know if we could make it as we haven't done anything harder than Heybrook Lookout together.  Heybrook is a 2.6 mile hike with an 850 elevation gain while Little Si is a 4.7 mile hike with a 1300 foot elevation gain.  At Heybrook, Jake pretty much ran up to the top without needing a break, so I thought it was possible.  After reading through trail reports of Little Si, it looked like most of the elevation gain was at the beginning and end, with an easier walk in the middle.  By thinking of it as 2 smaller, doable, hikes, I thought it was possible we could do this.  I'm so glad we gave it a try!

With my Discover Pass on hand, we lucked out and pulled into the overflow lot just as someone was leaving.  On the road, we passed quite a few people who were clearly hiking in from various street parking spots because the 2 main lots were full, so I was thankful to find a spot relatively close to the trailhead.  Once we made it to the trailhead off of the main lot, I set my Fitbit stopwatch and we started on our way.

Sure enough, the beginning was as steep and rocky.  At just .2 miles in, there was a little rock outcropping, and it kind of felt like Pride Rock from the Lion King.  If you are up for a somewhat steep, but very short, hike, this rock could be a great destination for young hikers who want to get a feel of hiking, without putting in 5 miles roundtrip.  We were there in about 3 or possibly 5 minutes, and it was an exciting way to start off our excursion.

A switchback or two past this outcropping, we saw the 1st sign for Boulder Garden Loop.  Jake wanted to check it out, but I wasn't up for the whole loop since I wasn't even sure if we'd finish the main trail and the topographical map indicates it's really steep.  We wandered onto the loop for a few minutes but quickly came back to the main trail.

A little past the sign, we passed under an interesting "tree tunnel" where one tree had fallen onto a couple of other trees to create a sort of arch. 

Jake loved this tree tunnel, until he saw what was just beyond it: The Rock.  He could not take his eyes off of this boulder and desperately wanted to climb it.  Jake can't wait until he is old enough to safely rock climb, and this boulder called to him.  He's amazingly strong, surprisingly careful and has climbed similar rocks before, so after going up & down with him a couple of times, I let him go up & down several times on his own.  On the last time or two, when I felt comfortable that he knew the safe way up & down, I took some pictures & video.

 

Past this rock, things really flattened out.  When we saw the 2nd sign for the Boulder Garden Loop, around .5 miles in, Jake wanted to take another detour.  However, we had already monkeyed around quite a bit and weren't even halfway up the mountain so I had us continue on. For the next mile or so, it was a really easy hike through the woods, and it gave my calves a break from that first quarter mile burn.  As we made our way to the trail east of the summit, we wound through a cool, mossy forest.  When we were directly under the summit, we saw some rock climbers dangling on ropes.  Jake wanted to go rock climb on ropes with them, but reluctantly settled for watching them for a bit.  Fortunately he was excited to climb to the "tippy top of a mountain" enough to move along.  Eventually.

Past the rock climbers, we found a little side trail that turned directly towards the rock wall under the summit.  I told Jake this wasn't the main path & didn't go where we wanted to go.  Jake told me that he still wanted to explore it, or at least go under the log.  I let him.  Past the log, there were some boulders that kind of looked like they were part of a path.  We climbed up them for a few minutes, but when it became clearly not safe to continue, we trekked back down to the main path.  We're not the most direct hikers, but developing a love for nature and exploration is kind of the point of our excursions, so I'm happy to try to support & plan for unexpected interests as much as possible.

At this point, we were heading into the final ascent.  Jake was doing great, but since I've never done this hike before, I didn't know hard it would be or if he could make it.  Some of the field reports indicate the last bit is really hard.  When I asked one descending hiker how far it was, he said we were maybe only halfway there (which didn't match up with my trail map & totally wasn't true) and said it was probably too hard for the 6 year-old.  I didn't want to mention that Jake's only 4. 

While I didn't want to deliver a major disappointment but didn't want to deal with unsafe conditions, I gave Jake a canteen so he could hydrate while I took a moment to collect my thoughts.  Since this was an out-and-back hike, I didn't want to go until Jake was exhausted - that would make the return trip miserable.  At this point, we had hiked 2 miles & I felt confident that Jake would have no problem for the return trip.  However, I wanted to hear him chit chat for a few minutes so I could gauge if his energy reserve & muscle fatigue was at a point to handle a steep climb up & down, too.  I wanted to give it a try, but I didn't want to end up in a situation where Jake hated the hike.  Since I've never seen him hit any wall while hiking before, I really didn't know how much he could do or how quickly he'd hit that wall. 

During this break, another hiker descended upon us.  She was a really sweet person with a friendly dog named Olive, and gave us just the encouragement I needed.  She congratulated Jake on making it so far already, told him she thought he was amazing, said it was beautiful and sunny up top, and said she thought we could make it.  I was already leaning towards giving it a go, but her supportive words helped me decide to forge ahead. 

We started climbing away from our leisurely forest stroll for the final ascent.  Surprisingly, it really wasn't hard at all!  I'm so glad we gave it a try!  We did have to work, but we never had to stop for a break.  Jake's constant conversation, questions, and singing indicated that he really wasn't struggling either. 

One thing about Jake: when he hikes (or really anytime) he talks or sings.  The. Entire. Way.  He received all kinds of compliments on how he had the best spirits of any other kids folks had seen on the trail that day.  Even in the final switchbacks, which were the toughest, he happily sang, only taking breaks to tell everyone along the way that his Dad had given him glowsticks that morning.  He told everyone that that they're really fun and that they light up and that they're called glowsticks and that they're electric and that they light up and that they're from his Dad and his dad knows how to turn them on and they help see in the dark and he loves them.  Oh my gosh, he loves his new glowsticks.  We encountered folks about every 5 minutes or so on our 4 hour hike, and whenever he had them in his hand, he told everyone the full spiel about his amazing glowsticks from his Dad.  Finally, realizing that he would save the glowsticks over his own life, I tucked them away in our backpack for the final part of the final ascent.  There were some switchbacks that required hands on rocks or trees for stability and he wasn't quite focused enough for my comfort while he held his beloved glowsticks.

At a little under the 2 hour mark, he finally started slowing down.  He didn't complain and said he didn't want a break or a snack, but he slowed down a bit.  A few minutes later, we found a cave at the base of a rock wall.  Jake has been obsessed with caves recently, got excited, and asked for his glowsticks back so he could explore the "deep, dark cave."  I checked it out first, and seeing that it was about 5 feet of rock tunnel and that there were no animals hiding inside, I let him explore.  We stayed for about 10 minutes.  He went through several times.  He wanted to climb the rock wall too, but it was way too high so I rejected that idea.  Plus, I could see rays of sunshine shining through the trees, and it looked like we were just about at the top.  I pried him away, and we continued on.

Around the corner, we discovered another rock outcropping, overlooking the valley to the east, with a close-up view of Mt. Si.  There were lots of people on it at the time, so we bypassed it and continued to the summit, which was just a minute or two beyond.  On the way back down, there was just one pair of hikers there, so as I told Jake to be safe & held both hands, they snapped a pic. 

Past the final outcropping, we walked the final minute or two to the official summit!  It was packed with people, but we found a spot right in the middle, which was farthest away as possible from any edge.

On the way back down, we stopped by the cave for a little while and stopped to climb on The Rock again.  While it took us almost exactly 2 hours to go up (including rock climbing, cave crawling, and side hiking excursions), the 1 1/2 hour trip back down actually felt harder.  We didn't break a sweat going downhill, but descending the rocky switchbacks just below the summit were a little rough on my soccer ankles.  Rocks that Jake had scampered up with no trouble now required me holding his hand for safety on the way down.  All told, it was a great day!

Fitbit says I took 16,439 steps on the mountain (I used the stopwatch feature today) and walked 6.87 miles over 4 hours & 6 minutes. WTA says the trail is only 4.7 miles http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/little-si, but we took several side trails out & back for fun. If we normally walk about 3 mph & spent 40 minutes being sidetracked (20 minutes up & 20 minutes down), it's very likely we hiked a 10k today, with a 1300 foot elevation climb in the middle. Go Jake (& me!)

Trail map:

 

VIDEO: Jake is excited about glow sticks, rocks, and caves: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152686759921361

 

BEFORE YOU GO:

1. Make sure you have a Discover Pass.  You can buy online here, but there is not an option to print at home so you need to wait for it to arrive in the mail.  REI sells them, and I think that True Value also sells them.  Look here for a complete vendor list: http://www.discoverpass.wa.gov/

2. Read recent trip reports at WTA to check out current conditions: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/little-si

3. There is a sanican facility in the main lot.  However, places like that are never guaranteed to have TP.  Pack a roll with you, just in case.

4. With the elevation climb, make sure to pack water.  The two of us almost went through two 20 ounce canteens.

5. The rock at the summit is a great place for a snack, as are breaks in the steep parts at the beginning & end of the hike.

 

GETTING THERE:

1. I couldn't find an address, but there are signs for folks coming from I-90.  Looking at the intersections on the map, I plugged in 43400 Mount Si Road into my car's GPS & it took me right to the overflow lot.

2. Bing Maps: http://binged.it/1CbAQnr

3. When you turn on to Mount Si Road, you will notice a nice, arched bridge crossing the Snoqualmie River.  Just beyond the bridge is 434th Avenue.  At this intersection is the overflow parking lot.  Just past 434th Ave on Mount Si Road is the main lot.  Both lots fill up on weekends, so you may need to find street parking.