Ascending Mt. Si, to measure decline

Many of us have childhood memories of measuring our heights at intervals -- keeping track of our growth, for example, with pencil marks and dates on a wall or doorjamb. It was encouraging proof that we were not only growing up, but getting bigger and stronger as we did so.  

I'm probably in a minority, however, in keeping track of my decline as I age -- by documenting the increasing time it takes each year to climb Mt. Si, an isolated 4,167-foot volcanic remnant, looming above the town of North Bend, Washington, about forty miles east of Seattle.  I've hiked the trail frequently ever since I was 26, but have documented my climbs annually only since 2011.  My Mt. Si post on June 5, 2011, continues to be one of my most frequently read entries, a reflection of the large number of persons who continue to climb the mountain.

Each year, I add to my 2011 post my most recent time to climb Mt. Si.  By which I mean the hike from the trailhead only to the open rock field, below the Haystack, where one emerges from the forest, some 3,200 feet above the trailhead.  The Haystack itself is a class 3 scramble which I did a number of times in my careless and foolish youth, but not in recent years.   

My annual time entries show a definite trend upward, and my physical condition a corresponding trend downward.  It takes me longer to climb the same distance each year.  In 2011, it took me an hour and 40 minutes.  Last year, that had increased to two hours, 13 minutes. Yesterday, it was five minutes longer: two hours, 18 minutes.

I'm not getting younger.  Or faster or stronger.  But I'm like the dog that learns to dance on his rear legs:  he doesn't do it well, but it's a miracle that he does it at all. 

Yesterday was a Saturday, and the trail was mobbed.  I used to hear complaints that hiking and climbing were recreations enjoyed only by privileged white youth.  That certainly wasn't true yesterday -- climbers of both sexes and of every conceivable ethnicity and age.  It was a veritable United Nations on the slopes, reminding me of a recent report that Seattle was behind only New York and San Francisco in the diversity of its population.

The usual approach to Mt. Si from Seattle is to take I-90 to North Bend, then exit and follow the winding road to the trailhead.  My car has some problems that made me uneasy about taking it onto the interstate, so I chose the "back road" that I'd never taken before.  I drove across Lake Washington on SR 20, continuing as far as Redmond -- a freeway as crowded as I-90 -- but then turned off onto SR 202, a very pleasant and scenic drive through rural King County, including the small towns of Fall City and Snoqualmie, ending up in downtown North Bend.  The drive takes about 15 minutes longer from my house than the I-90 route, but was much more enjoyable.

An enjoyable day that has become something of an annual ritual.  As has the following day, during which I once more learn to walk on legs made of rubber.