One the third day of Sweeney’s visit, we returned from Vantage, and then immediately headed out for an afternoon hike near North Bend.  We were originally thinking Mount Si, but with big touring plans for Monday, we decided not to wear ourselves out too much.

Sweeney caught some great photos on our way back over the pass.

What I believe is Mt. Stuart as seen from I-90.  Catherine and I haven’t been this far east in WA since we drove in at the end of our road trip.

Another view of Rainier. Still stunning, still enormous.

The lifts at Snoqualmie were running, but there was still powder to be had.  The southern Summit resorts are a bit more mellow, and it was gorgeous so maybe the crowds were elsewhere.

We parked and began the ascent of Little Si early afternoon, hiking quickly and scoping out the climbing since I’d heard it was a popular spot. We summitted in just under 45 minutes and took a nice lengthy snack break.

We set up a timer photo with Mount Si as the backdrop.

On the descent we side-tracked a bit and found some more great views.

After the hike, I decided we’d check out Snoqualmie Falls since we were close-by.

It was busy on such a beautiful day, and the falls were near peak flow, which is roughly 11,000 cfs.

With that in the bag, we headed home to meet up with Catherine for an indulgent meal, and to weigh our options about the increasing worrying (warming) avalanche forecast.

Sweeney’s last full day, culminating in a solid ski tour will follow shortly.