Hikes Around Seattle
[TODO add some pictures]
Bandera Mountain amazing hike. first half up to the fork between bandera mountain and mason lake (? was that what it was called? it’s been a while) is pretty standard, but then afterwards it starts getting steeper to the point where you need to go on all fours to continue climbing. We were hiking through the clouds too, and there were blooming bear grass flowers that lined the trail, making it feel extra magical. For some reason, it reminded me of howl’s moving castle. One moment you’re hiking through the clouds, and the next you’ve climbed above them and it’s a clear blue sky with mt rainier poking above a fluffy white ocean in the distance. amazing view. one of my best days in the seattle area. we tried to get to big bandera but the trail was too hard to follow, and we kept making wrong turns. grace called it off, with the deal that after we get legit hiking shoes (which we now have!) we would retrace our steps.
Mount Si the trail up to the top is honestly pretty lacklustre. but what turned this from a boring snoozefest to an amazing hike was a hundred meter scramble up to the haystack at the very top. it felt almost like a VB boulding route, and the last scramble up to the very top was very exposed. had so much fun climbing that. grace was a bit scared an unfortunately did not make it to the top. honestly, I can understand the fear, not for myself, but for my brother, I think I would be close to not bringing him here because I know he is less cautious than I am and therefore more likely to seriously injure himself
Mailbox Peak honestly the warnings at the bottom of the trail was a lot scarier than the trail itself. we did the old trail up and the new trail down. Was freezing at the top. the high winds coupled with sweaty bodies made it feel like we were in a walk-in cooler. we huddled near the top and ate our sandwich.
Rattlesnake Ledge First hike we ever did in the seattle area. very crowded. can barely see the view. very short as well, felt a bit like a trek in the woods. If you follow the trail map a bit past the initial clearing, you get some nice secluded views on some exposed rock.
West Tiger Very close trail near our home. not the greatest views, but not terrible either. not much to say. it felt a lot steeper going down than going up for some reason. easy to do in an afternoon
Mount Washington Trail absolutely full of mosquitos. will never come back. we planned to each lunch at the very top, but when we got there it was absolutely infested. If we stayed any longer we would’ve been eaten alive. despite coming down immediately after reaching the top, me and grace got no less than 10 mosquito bites each. I was also walking behind grace constantly swatting all the mosquitos I could see, and continuously hitting my own neck and exposed arms. if the hike went on any longer, I would have gone insane