Bandera, the return to Poo Poo point and Granite Mountain - June Training

The June training continues with an increase in difficulty to intermediate levels. The first hike was Bandera in the Snoqualmie area. It starts very easy until 1/3 into the hike. It then starts getting steep for the next 1.5 miles. There was snow in the middle of the trail but we continued the hike. Snow clears up unless you take the route to Mason Lake. The last .5 miles is a fun hike up some boulders with good views of Rainier behind you. The boulder section gets a little challenging but once on the top you get some great views of Mason Lake, Rainier and the rest of the surrounding mountains. There was a lot of snow once at at the top but nothing too difficult.
We then tried another day hike to Poo-poo point, this time hoping to get to the actual launch site. This time the hike felt a little better and we reached the top way faster than the first time. This time we were able to reach the launch site. IT was fun to see some of the paragliders around but I didnt get to see anyone launching. It was warmer this time so there were plenty of bugs specially now that the grass was pretty high at the top of the mountain.
The highlight of the month was Granite mountain (Forest Pass required). I am a little dissapointed that we didnt reach the summit due to snow but overall was a good and fun hike. The trail is pretty good until the last mile where the snow took over. Its not too crowded and the trail is a combination of steep sections with different gradients but most of the sections were pretty open which made it a little easier. Watch out when crossing the avalanche chutes... they get steep with the snow so you might consider bringing some poles if you are doing this hike early in the year.

HEre are some stats from my buddy who has an awesome Garmin tracking device
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95236115

Definetly coming back to this hike to make it to the summit this time!
Here is the recall again:
Bandera Mountain: Great views of Rainier and Mason Lake. Difficulty: 3.5/5
Poo-Poo Point: Great workout hike. Difficulty: 3/5
Granite Mountain: Awesome views of Rainier and the pass. Difficulty: 4/5

Pics from Granite Semi summit...

A look back in time... 4 years ago - Day 17 (5/25/07)

The following is an excerpt from my travel Diary to Europe in May 2007. BAre with me as I literally place what is in the diary... apologize for the foul language and innapropiate things. Enjoy!

"Day 17 - 5/25/07 (Paris)
We woke up around 10:30. WE have been trying to sleep in for a long time and we finally did it. Got up and got some of the food from the groceries we did the day before. Then we headed to the metro and looked for the catacombs were people hided on WW I but this was the place where the bodies from one cementery were transladed cuz of sanity issues but also has a lot of important people from the French REvolution. It was a long maze and really deep too. WE walked for around 2 hours but we splitted up cuz Guy and Kaare were going too fast ahead. WE walked in a tunnel with tons of cadavers... and Pedro had to pee inside this place. The kid cannot control his bladder.
We got out and then walked to the Pantheon. The place used to be a church but it was then changed for the french revolution into a political place. There was a giant pendulum that shows the time of the day (pretty cool). We walked around and then went to the crypts. There were crypts from really cool people. Scientists and writers from teh revolution times. Robespierre, Voltaire, Pierre & MArie Currie, LAgrange, Etc. It was a really cool place to visit. The we walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral where the 'hunchback' lives and Napoleon was crowned emperor. WE got a Kabob before getting there and then walked for free inside the cathedral. It was really nice. The statues were cool and virgin Mary is like the icon everywhere. WE got out and then made the line for the top part of the cathedral... 436 steps! Great view btw and then we walked to waht supposed to be our next hostel just to make sure KAare did the reservations ok. We went there and the lady at the desk was like not paying attention at all. The reservations were in... That's all that matters.
We then walked through the Louvre (which was like 3 blocks from the hostel). While we were waiting, a huge storm came toward us and a tornado started forming in front of the Louvre. WE had to under the rain to a metro station... not fun... finally we got to the apartment. I was soaked so I started to hang everything so it gets dry. Then we decided to go to the Eifel tower at night. Great decision but not a good idea at midnight. The tower was beautiful. It had blinking lights at some moments and it was beautiful. We walked under it and hanged out around it. Then I wanted to go and see a mini statue of liberty. We walked for around 45 minutes and we didnt even see the front of it. We realized that the metro was closed so we had to walk back 2 miles at 2 AM. Not too fun with sandals on. We saw the Arc of Triumph on the way back...nice...it reminded me of my baby. We finally got to the apartment around 3:30... I bet we are skipping breakfast tomorrow too. Check out is at 12 so we'll see."

From Wallace Falls to Little Si to Poo Poo to Big Si

On May 26th we started the hiking training for Nepal with a visit to the hikes by Hwy 2. Wallace Falls was the season opener. The hike is about 30 minutes east of Monroe and it starts very easily under some power lines that go behind the town of Goldbar. The hike consists of 4 waterfall viewpoints and has also a mountain bike trail that loops around the area. After around 45 minutes you get to see the first set of waterfalls. If you continue to the following viewpoints, the hike gets a little stepper but nothing too difficult for beginners. It seems like, from my own experience, viewpoint 3 gives you the best view out of all 4 viewpoints.
Definetly a good hike for starters!
The following hike was the hike to Little Si. This hike is typically very crowded but since we went early in the season, it was alright. The beggining of the hike might be intimidating as it starts very steep but it then turns in a slow ascent to the top. Make sure to stay on the right trail: after the steep part at the beggining of the hike, the trail divides in two. Stay left at this fork because the right side will take you on a very different trail which takes you to Big Si via the Boulder Garden Loop trail. We did try this route on a different day which is described below.
On the way up you get to enjoy some of the walls that mountain climbers use to practice their skills. Apparently these walls, which are halfway into the hike, are heavily used to practice in the Seattle area. This hike should be pretty quick and you get some good views of the Snoqualmie pass, the mountains surrounding I-90 and of course Big Si. Definetly recommended for begginers but probably not for someone completely new to hikking.
Since the summer finally arrived and we get sunlight until around 10pm, we also tried a day hike to Poo Poo Point in Issaquah. The trail head is past the historic downtown of Issaquah, right after a paragliding center. The mountain is used mainly by paragliders as a launch site. It is crazy to believe that these guys carry all that heavy equipment up this trail to the launch site. The hike is pretty steep all the way up. The first 1.5 miles are probably the worse and then things get less steep. I will consider it still a begginer's hike but not a hike to take someone that is not into hikking not only because of the effort but because you only get a nice view of Rainier on the way there. Since we were a little late, we got to what looked like the top, had a glance at Rainier and then turned back down. It was never clear if we made it to the launch site or not but we decided to come back again at some point.
The challenge of the month was Big Si. Due to schedule conflicts we were not able to do Big Si in May but we did it on the first weekend of June. For some reason, probably the fact that we were just starting hikking around, we decided to go up Mt Si using the old trail which starts with the same trailhead as little Si. Once you get to the first fork, stay right to get onto the Boulder Garden Loop trail. Around a mile into the Boulder Garden Loop trail, you will get to the middle of the loop trail where you can get to the Old Mt. Si trail. Get up a couple of steps and make your way into the next 3.5 miles to get to the top of Mount Si. This trail is definetly not a begginers trail: lots of switchbacks, continous incline (not that bad of a steep) and lots of trees which will make things very humid and warm on a hot day! Took a long time to get up, probably because I am definelty not in shape at this point, but you get really good views at the top. This hike was rough, at some point we merged into the regular trail (at around 1 mile left to the top) and the trail was full as expected... yeah this is one of the most popular hikes in Seattle so plan accordingly. We had to park on a church 15 minutes away which btw feels like an hour after a 4 hr hike + .5 hr climb on boulders in an effort to get better views of Rainier and even Mt. Baker.
Here is a brief description of the hikes I just mentioned in this post (May-June).
1. Wallace Falls: Great for begginers. Viewpoint #3 is the best one. Difficulty: 1/5
2. Little Si: Nice views of Snoqualmie Pass. Difficulty: 2/5
3. Poo-Poo Point (picture below): Really good for a day workout. Difficulty: 3/5
4. MT Si via Old Big Si trail: Most popular hike in Seattle. Difficulty: 3(maybe a 3.5)/5

Apologize for the lack of pics! I need to make sure to bring the camera more often!

Views of Rainier from Poo-Poo point