With the Amy and the kids still in Portland it was kind of a given that I'd be heading up a trail, right? But with this weather everybody who was smart was staying inside. Eric and I thought about Mailbox, but yowza, driving rain down low and a healthy bit of time exposed on the ridge made us head for Mt. Si instead.
In spite of the rain we were down to t-shirts at the exit from the Boulder Garden Loop and Treen led the way up the hill. When the rain turned to snow it lifted my spirits all the way to the Haystack Basin. The wind was blowing fiercely, but we were sheltered where we were so we didn't venture out to the overlook.
After the quickish ascent (1:40) we were plenty wet and starting to chill so we turned for home with no thoughts of the Haystack itself.
I hadn't been punished enough for wanting to go out when the opportunity presented itself so we detoured and completed the Boulder Garden Loop. The extra little distance probably did my lousy foot no favors and by the time we got to the bottom I was cringing with every step. Dinner at the Pour House helped a bit, but Vitamin I was the real savior.
Totals were about 7.7 miles and 3,400 feet. (Why the extra distance? We parked at the Snoqualmie Valley Trail crossing rather than a gated lot. Of course, the gates were open when we returned so... )
