Hiking in Seattle - Saturday Sept.29

So, I headed off to Seattle this weekend to go hiking with my sister. We decided to try our luck at Mount Si, http://www.mountsi.com/which was said to be a pretty busy trail, but great views and moderate. We set off Saturday morning after a cereal breakfast and a trip to REI to find my sister a good day pack. The day was partly sunny, but definitely looked like rain. We got to the trail and started off...definately moderate and to us (not in very good shape) a little difficult to breathe...and the trail climbed fairly quickly. It was interesting to see the many people running and walking by us as if we were standing still. We did make it to the first stopping point on the trail...roughly 1.25 miles. It was pretty, saw lots of green! Saw a banana slug...and at the point we stopped to have lunch, the overlook was gorgeous and the mountain to our left had a frosting layer of snow! It did start to rain on our way down. But, the weather was still perfect for hiking, cooler and mostly in shade. Once we got to the bottom we took a small trail near a creek...and then left to check out a closeby antique store. Then, we headed to Snoqualmie Falls...on the way we encountered a couple herd of elk...which was pretty exciting. My sister hadn't seen any yet. So, we pulled over to watch them for awhile. Then, on to the falls http://www.snoqualmiefalls.com/. The Falls were gorgeous, not as tall as Mulnomouth (I can't spell this) but still, awe inspiring. We also had Flat Stanley with us. So, he got into several pictures. I need to send them to FL. Once we left the Falls, we had hiked a total of 3.25 miles of moderate to strenous (at least for us). We headed back to Seattle and on the way back my sister wanted to take me to a park with a view of the Puget Sound...and the sun was going down...what was left of it through the rain clouds! It was beautiful except for the shrieking children (although it did sound as though they were having fun). The tide was high...and there were birds. We saw several bits of crab along the shore, some shells and it was scenic. The park had some great places for kids to play, kind of looked like it was under the sea. Then it was to my sisters to shower and find a place to eat for supper. We were HUNGRY! We settled on a newer Italian restaurant down the hill http://www.asteroidcafe.com/ and it was good. Not our first choice, our first choice was Swingside Cafe...but it had an hour and a half wait...and we were hungry! Then, it was walking back up the hill and to bed. What an AWESOME day!