82 Mount Si climbs

With her custom-made backpack and 82 ascents of Mount Si, she is training for Denali.

Sept. 13, 2018, Thursday -- Probably the highlight of today's hike was meeting a woman in her 30s who has climbed Mount Si 82 times already. She's also climbed Rainier, and she is in training for Alaska's Denali. And she knew her way up the mountain, pointing out distances all along the path as we walked together. It was chance that put us together on the way up, and I left her move on ahead because I was dragging it.

The reason I was slow was probably the cottage cheese I had with my smoothie for breakfast. Google confirmed my suspicion -- milk products are great after the hike, but they slow you down if consumed before the hike. I was pushing 140 bpm early on and for much of the hike, and I was as tired in the last quarter mile as I had been last time. The extra 3 pounds of backpack weight and the Mountain boots may have contributed.

My time wasn't particularly impressive. The entire hike took seven hours -- four to get to the lunch spot and another 2.5 for the descent. I made the snack bar in an hour; the talus loop/Snag Flats in 1 hour 20 minutes; the hitching rack in 2 hours; and the 3.5 mile mark at three hours.

At any rate, I gained another 3,000 feet of ascent and another 8 miles of distance.

What follows are some photos along the way.

I shot this photo just a small distance past the trailhead.

This very unusual fungus (unusual for me, anyway) was on a bank beside the trail.

A little farther up the bank, this mushroom had pushed its way through the soil debris.

A view of an alternate trail that starts mid-way up and merges with the main trail near the summit.

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1450.80 miles

Elevation gain: 47,720 feet  -- 9,924 feet to my next Rainier.