Okay, Little Si is a wussy climb, only 1200', but it was a good way to be sure my knee would hold out, before trying the big one, Mt Si (at about 3,600'). Robert Smith asked if I would hike with him, and agreed to Little Si as the first outing for me. He has been romping up Mt Si with 5lb weights on each leg and a weighted pack, so it was quite a downgrade for him. He entertained himself by "planking" his way to the top of Little Si.
Here are Robert's comments on our "Little Si" hike:
"Last week, as part of my conditioning climb for my Peru service in August, I planked Little Si. Not Mount Si, but Little Si, the runt mountain next to the real Si. I did this because of my friend, Roger, who didn’t set his alarm clock right, and so arrived at our rendezvous site late. This gave me time to read a a Wall Street Journal article that alerted me to the fact that photos of planking have gone viral on the Internet, but the fever has broken and the fad is dying out. Sunday might be my last chance to catch the wave.
There have been too many critical things I've missed in life. Like the time in the 1960s when I got to Haight-Ashbury. The free-love flower children had all left, and instead I got picked up by a guy who took me to a meeting of gay maoists,. Being in the Air Force with a secret clearance, I naturally felt uncomfortable, particularly after he shared his vision of how he wanted to spend the night. Having missed the flower children, I definitely didn't want to miss planking.
Roger, being out of shape and all, had already negotiated me down to a wussy hike up Little Si instead of the real Mount Si, and now he was late. So I decided I would recover the momentum by planking my way up Little Si. And to recover his reputation, Roger spent a good deal of the time convincing me he’s not a wuss by suggesting we climb Mount Adams in July. At 12,300 feet, the summit of Mount Adams is 5,000 feet higher than I’ve ever hiked. It’s higher than Cuzco, Peru. You can do it in one day, but Roger suggests two. So maybe I’ll try it to see what I’m in for."
Okay, Robert, I agree, it is a wussy mountain. But I am very glad you are considering Mt Adams. First, it is most definitely NOT a wussy mountain. It is the second highest mountain in Washington state, next to Mt Rainier, and is higher than all of the other major volcanic peaks in Washington: Glacier Peak, Mt Baker, Mt St Helens and Mt Olympus. Mt Adams does have 12 glaciers on it, 4 of the seriously big, fully equipped with crevasses and all, but it also has a delightful south slope that only has a snow field on it, making it easy to climb without glacier travel equipment, suitable for mountain climbing beginners. Like Robert :). Ok, now for Mt Si, also not a wussy mountain.
Here is a shot of Robert looking like a figurehead on a ship as he planks on a mossy log below Little Si:
And here he is on the summit of Little Si, with Mt Si looming massively in the background. In Robert's words: "This is the position we used in the dorm room. I call it the reverse two-point supine plank. Note how impressed those kids are at my ability to do this 40 years later."
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