Trip report by Sanjeev Kumar
Its a late June weekend. Sunday was another beautiful day with bright sun (quite un-seattlistic weather). So how could we let it go like that, planned a hike on trail Bandera.
Quadro (Me, Giri, Srini and Vish) were the only one ready for it. My leg was already sprained when we started the hike but that wouldn't deter me from doing it. started our ascent at 4PM, however we were supposed to be there around 11am but somehow it kept delaying but didn't let it get cancelled.
Ascend was smooth for intial half-an hour because of two reasons one we weren't drained of energy, two wasn't that steep. Srini was named Sherpa seeing his enthusiasm. After that it got so steep that if I was ahead of other guys by say 40 feet I could just see their chest and above and at some stages it was so steep that seeing their heads itself was difficult.
Well later on I was the only one going strong despite being less than 100% physically. Everybody else showed some signs of tiredness but not unwillingness to conquer. later on Sherpa title was conferred on me too.
On the way other sides had snow and a lake too... some places the mountain would be full of vegetation at others it would be bald and at some others rocky. But nothing would stop anybody. yeah onething is sure doing this hike on a rainy day is something really a herculean-task, coz of its steepness it would have water flowing down and some water from melting snow also. Anyway thats not like it was for us though.
I was the first one to reach the summit at 550PM within another 10 minutes Srini and Vishnu were there and another 5 minutes the quadro is again together,celebrating the conquering of one of the highest in the region, some 6000-7000 feet one-fourth of Mt. Everest though but still giving the pleasure of hike. Downtown Seattle's skyscrapers would look like a model, I mean so tiny that nothing more than an architectural paradigm. After some 10-15 minutes of rest and refreshment started our descent at 620PM.
Getting there: The trailhead is off of I-90 on the west side of Snoqualmie Pass.
Note: This is backcountry wilderness travel. Any trail can become very dangerous in winter conditions. You are responsible for informing yourself of the hazards and taking the necessary precautions. Please read Terms of Use.