Black Friday

The last Friday in November and almost always some over-indulgence the day before, this is when the store owners are supposed to start writing in black ink. Kim and Ben a mountain biking couple had invited Trudy and Myself to meet at the QFC in North Bend. Still giving thanks for good health, and good people and an excellent meal the day before which we shared with Jess (whose Husband is in Iraq) and her 2 year old daughter. It was not a bad idea to get up early to meet Kim Kadence and Ben.
I don't generally favor bringing in dead trees to brighten up the cold months so we would go to live ones out there. However happy to report no dead store clerks at the QFC.
I have been promising myself to try to stay away from the extra winter blubber this year having set my sight on 2010, now was as good a time as any to start getting in shape.
I have not hiked up a mountain in a long time, at least not since I fractured my ankle last November and I wondered how it would work out as cross training. I had also discovered that Peter Beeson runs a spin class in West Seattle, early Monday morning and after work on Thursdays and his spin music is right up my alley.







Little Si was looking very inviting but it was not to be. Ben had chosen a more difficult climb; Mailbox Peak, I had never climbed this one before. There is 4,000 feet elevation gain and my altimeter read about 5,000 ASL at the top.


It starts off looking pretty gentle and I am thinking about my mountain bike at this point. At that little notice board with warning and statistics on rescues from this hike we branch into the woods and it tilts up.













I was sure I was way over-dressed fighting those grades with my hiking poles and began to strip things off as we ascended.
The last stretch to the top was very rocky and especially on the descent resulted in a lot of impact.














We made it to the top in about 3 hours, the descent was the the killer though as my quads are no longer used to acting as shock absorbers. It took just over 2 hours to come down reminding me of something else to be thankful for: The Wheel.