Mount Si was a fun hike. It’s a pretty classic, moderate incline out-and-back that took me maybe 3-4 hours with time spent at the top to relax and take in the views.
The parking lot was packed, but luckily I got there via bus! Seattle has a summer bus service called Trailhead Direct that stops in Capitol Hill, downtown Seattle, and South Bellevue and takes you to either a bunch of hikes in Issaquah or a bunch of hikes in Snoqualmie/North Bend. I took the link from U-District to South Bellevue (over the floating bridge!), then hopped on the bus from there to the trailhead.
The hike itself was really straightforward. The incline had a steep ascent, then a mellow walk through a valley, and then another steep ascent at the end. When you get to the end of the hike, you still haven’t quite made it up to Mt. Si yet. The hike ends about a quarter mile from the summit. You can either stop there, or you can do the rest which is a bit of a scramble. The very last part involves some serious climbing, but that’s where I tapped out. The entire time, there were tons of hikers on the trail carrying absurdly heavy backpacks, which I later found out was people practicing to summit Mt. Rainier by hiking Si with weighted packs instead.
From where I chose to stop, you had gorgeous views in every direction. You could see I-90 running east through the rest of the Snoqualmie area, you could see North Bend, Issaquah, and all the other towns going west. You could also see the serious hikers who climbed up to the actual summit of the mountain. If you squinted your eyes you could see Seattle and Bellevue off in the distance. Everything felt so small.
