Little Si — some saltwater

What builds a strong team dynamic more than a hike up the side of a mountain? On President's Day, the Student Health Consortium did just that. We hopped in our cars on a sunny Seattle day and went up to North Bend, nestled at the foot of Mount Si. North Bend is known for being the setting of Twin Peaks.

Somehow on the way up I got put in charge of navigation, which is just a recipe for disaster. I lead us to the wrong entrance, but we eventually made it.

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Now this particular parking lot required the Discovery Pass which took 20 minutes to sort out and purchase.

After that debacle, we began our ascent.

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Not going to lie, this hike was only a 1300 ft. elevation gain, but the start was so steep...

My calves were burning at this point.

The crew.

We were going to scale this, but someone else beat us to it. Probably for the better.

And of course right at the top, it gets super steep again. The trees look pretty rad though.

We finally made it to the top!

The peak had great views of North Bend and the surrounding mountains.

It was a scenic snack break.

And back into the woods we went. I should clarify; we ran down the mountain, just for "fun".

We dodged those sensible hikers who were walking on the trail, but slowed our pace on the the slight uphills then sprinted on the downhills.

And we made it back to the parking lot in record time.

But any really good hiking trip isn't complete without some grub, namely some ice cream.

On the way back, we made a pitstop at Scott's Dairy Freeze. FOR THE RECORD LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THIS IS CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM AND NOT VANILLA. Ice cream cones are always the perfect way to end and excellent hike.