The "Big" and "Little" Battle

It has been a busy week. We have both increased our training, and significantly refocused on the intensity of this climb. Saturday morning, 8 am, we headed off to Mt. Si in North Bend. The morning commutes of both last weekend's and this weekend's hike sounded similar as I, the non-morning person, couldn't believe we were up at such an early hour. I will take full responsibility for my attitude, eagerness, and energy as I had been visiting friends in Bellingham the night before which led to a bedtime sometime around 4am.

For the record: totally worth it. We reached Big Si by 9ish and took off into the forecasted "...gorgeous day ahead with sun for the morning and afternoon and temperatures of up to 70 degrees..." A recipe filled with Northwest adventurers, boy scout troupes, and families, Big Si was further garnished with the unexpected backpacker, toy dog, and toddler. The climb is 4,167 feet and 4 miles from the parking lot to the summit plateau. Four hours of

sleep and sore

from the previous day's spin and weight session, Big Si provided me with a much more arduous climb than times before. Mandy kept me

motivated and on task as we climbed. The summit, worth it as always, provided a

warm welcome with the warmth of the sun on our skin, fresh air in our lungs, and view of our goal at hand, Mt. Rainier...

The plateau's energy, certainly more than my own, even came with its own soundtrack with a group of young men

enjoying the opportunity to play their fiddle for those that

would stop and listen. Our goal was to summit in two hours. While, the dragging of my feet didn't speed us up by any accounts, we managed a timely accent not far from our goal pace. At the trail head, we were welcomed back by being boxed in by two other cars! Who does that?! Mandy's superb maneuvers behind the driver's wheel and my direction

from outside the vehicle, we managed to 'scrape' by and get on our way home. Big Si down, Little Si to go... Sunday morning was our 2nd training hike with the other Climb for Clean Air team members. We met in the Little Si parking lot that quickly went from being dusted by mist to overwhelmed by rain. Without delay, us hikers threw our packs on the ground searching for rain gear: outer shells, pack covers, gators, etc. One member of the 2010 team is Brett Martin, a friend from college. I had no idea that he was going to be joining this year's team so, the random nature of now seeing him at our training hikes has been really fun. In the true Northwest fashion, we took off, rain and all, to train with the help of Little Si. While, the mud and the rain didn't seem to catch

anyone off guard, the pace our guide kept certainly did. "I felt like I was running. I am a little person, with little legs!" cried Mandy as we took our first break alongside the trail. The pace was indeed fast but it felt good to keep a quicker

pace than we last did at Rattlesnake. Upon reaching trail's end, most of the crew was gasping for air. "That was quite the pace you kept..." One hiker exclaimed. Our guide smirked. I am certain he was thinking to himself, "mission accomplished." Feeling full of the energy I lacked the day before, the physical push felt good. On the other hand it brought up the intensity that will be Rainier. Many of the climbers were faced with their weaknesses. "Well, I certainly know now that I am far from ready," pronounced fellow climber Mark. As we continued on, so did the rain and by the

end of our trek we were all wrapped in the rain's slippery sheen. Little Si is a baby compared to its mama at only five miles round-trip and gaining 1,200 feet. So, in this weekend's the battle of the Si's... which did we favor?

DIFFICULTY: At 4,167 feet and 8 miles round trip, our vote... Big Si
SCENERY: The green moss, sheer walls of grey rock and variance in terrain, our vote... Little Si
SUMMIT VIEW: The peaceful stoop surrounded by grey mist, tree-covered mountain peaks that is Little Si compared to Big Si's stretched view of Seattle, Bellevue, the Cascades and haystack rock, our vote... tie OVERALL: While for training purposes, Big Si is where it's at, but the varying trail grade, flora, and fauna of Little Si offers competition, our vote... tie

Look for our March update out this week via email, letter, and blog...

This week's "AWESOME LIST": Kailyn Sylvester, Uncle Bill, and Professor Brotherton. Thank you thank you for supporting us!

k&m