Mt. Si

Holy shite. That was fucking hard.

Mel, Katie, Anna, and I climbed Mt. Si today and whoa. Whoa. It was 8 miles of knee-numbing goodness/evil. I used muscles I haven't used since 2006.

Trail running brings out interesting dynamics in folks, and you get a cross-section of NW society. There are those who greet you and move to the side as you barrel down on them, as if they are proud of you youngins making your way in the world; then there are those who scowl at you (perhaps they are bitter you are barreling down on them??). There are those who wear designer "outerwear" and carry fancy hiking poles and day packs, and there are those who hike in either flip flops (?!?!?) or top siders. Then, there are those women who wear full-scale makeup on the trail...no, no! Not just full-scale make-up but deep shades of blue eyeshadow. There a lot of well-muscled men, and women whose legs and thighs made me swear to myself that I would go the gym daily (yeah, right). Then there are women who out-pace their mans: I saw one woman *running* up this fucker while her boyfriend/husband kept back, carrying his pack and looking totally emasculated when she ran back down to him so she wouldn't lose track of him.... Oy.

My knees are killing me; my ass is screaming; my quadraceps are begging for a quick and merciless death.

But it was worth it!

The start:

The in-betweens:


The end:



The view:

The view when we got back down to the bottom, and before we snarfed down the best-tasting lunch ever. Seriously: steak-cut french fries with honey mustard never tasted so good., nor have they ever been eaten so quickly by four ravenous females: