Mount Si: Too much, too soon
Topographical Map of the trip generated with my GPS and DeLorme Topo USA
Just for reference, in to topo above, the red arrow points out Little Si.
After being inactive for months, I knew I was not in good enough shape yet to do Mount Si. However, next weekend is a much longer hike of 14 miles that everyone else is doing as a backpacking trip and I am doing as a day hike. (I have a love of indoor plumming) I decided to do Mount Si now because I needed to know if I could do the hike next weekend.
Dan wanted to start the hike early, but after a late night on John and Nuria's boat, we all decided to start around 9:30. The hike started well. I was really suprised to learn that it was so much less steep than West Tiger Mountain. At around the 2 mile mark, we came across a wooded creek
About a mile from the summit, my blood sugar level got really low. I was really suprised by this actually. I have never had this happen to me before and it is an interesting experience. You are going along fine and then all of sudden you have no energy. Luckily, I had a couple Jolly Ranchers so I was able to quickly fix the problem. We carried on regardless, albeit I was slower.
Just before we reached the summit, I took the following pictures:
We reached the top and rested for 30 minutes. During this time, I had a couple Cliff bars. Now some people may really like these bars, but not me. I can choke them down for the energy, but just barely. I snapped these pictures during the break:
With my energy replenished, Dan and I decided to climb The Haystack. This was a mistake again. My legs were too fatigued to climb this. This did not stop me from trying. About 1/3 of the way up I realized that I could not do it. I stopped and rested a bit and snapped these two pictures 1 and 2. Then climbed down. I slightly ripped my pants on the way down. D'oh!
Once Dan and I met up with Nuria again, they went off to look at something and I stayed with the packs and Isis. It was a good rest. By this time, the clouds had really burned off and there were some good views. I snapped a few more pictures from the top:
When Dan and Nuria returned, we decided to leave. The downward trip was good at the beginning, but after then 2 mile mark my legs were getting fatigued. Nuria's knees were hurting so she decided to run the rest of the way down. With about a mile to go, I got low blood sugar again. With about 1/2 of a mile to go I ran out of water. With the parking lot in sight, Dan went on ahead. I was moving pretty slow at this point. With 1/10 of a mile to go, my knees nearly buckled under me and I got really dizzy. I came close to passing out. I made it to the car and immediately drank a 32 oz sports drink.
Only after it was finished, did I speak. "I am never hiking again." were my words. I don't usually say things for effect or shock value. I meant this when I said it. However, Dan and Nuria convinced me that I was over reacting. I made some mistakes on this hike that I know to avoid from now on. I know I will hike again. I will watch my blood sugar from now on though.
