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Sunday, May 31, 2009
Well the training is in full swing. Mountaineering boots, heavy pack filled with water, and a steep hill to navigate. Mount Si is a popular training ground for mountaineers as it is around 4200 feet of vertical gain over a 4 mile distance.
I took the Vasque boots I picked up a couple of years ago to see how they would treat the heals. Well no shock to me but the right heal began to blister at about the one mile mark so off came the boots and on came the trail running shoes. The heal still bothered me a bit but I was able to make the summit.
At the top of this hike is a nice little 5.3 scramble to the summit. The well traveled nature of this trail makes this little scramble a little sporty as the climbing ability of most folks is limited. There was a family that was trying to get the lap dog to scramble up this climb as well. Due to the amount of loose rock throughout and the high risk of knocking some scree onto some, I assertively recommended that the dog stay at the base for everyone's safey.
So the ascent took 2hrs 15 minutes and the descent 1 hr and 3o. Only took one goo pack and 6 liters of water. I left 5 liters on the top to save the knees on the desent. Today the recovery has been going quite well. My legs are little tight and the knees sore but a quick spin in the road bike this afternoon should loosen it all up.
Below are several photos of the training hike. The view from up there is crazy as you get to see Mt. Baker to the North, Mount Rainier to the south and the entire valley out to Seattle. There was a layer of haze that is hard to compenstate for with a hand held camera but rest assured the view was worth the walk.
I hope to get Hunter up there one day soon. He turns 4 in a couple of weeks and is getting better about walking for a mile or two. He is my favorite training load to carry.
