I left early, prepared for a gray hike, but hoping that the clouds might break. From North Bend, there were glimpses of the top, so I figured I stood a chance. I hit the trail just after 8 and made it to the top two hours later. It might have been a little faster if I'd had those strap-on spiky things on my boots that everyone else had - since the last 3/4 mile was hard packed snow and a little slick.
The summit - or at least the shoulder, which is far as I went - was just barely above the cloud deck. Mount Rainier was visible to the south, the Olympics were visible to the west, and a few of Seattle's skyscrapers poked through the clouds. According to my little digital tracker, the four mile climb was roughly equivalent to 360 flights of stairs.
Previous Trip: Mount Si: June 2011
