Morgan and I often describe hills as the great equalizers of our relationship. Her ability to barrel uphill at light speed is matched only by my propensity for racing downhill on foot, skis, or wheels. We got to test this balance once again on a beautiful Friday afternoon when we left town a lil early to [metaphorically] run up Mailbox Peak, one of the Seattle metro area's most popular hikes.

The Uphill

I've lived in Seattle for two years now. It's no secret that one of my most sacriligeous beliefs is that every hike on the I-90 corridor is the same—a steep walk through the woods where the trees block the view, followed by a talus field ascent to a summit with a view of Tahoma. And yet what does change is the conditions. Today's conditions were spectacular. Clear skies and crisp afternoon air allowed us to charge up the Old "unmaintaned" trail, gaining 4140 feet in a little under three miles, taking in the sights and sounds along the way. A highlight:

We spotted this tree on the climb and couldn't figure out what had stripped it's bark so cleanly, and so high up. Lightning? Bears? Kids up to no good? The jury is still out, but we marvelled at how cold the bare trunk was in warm, humid woods.

The Summit

Like I said, every good hike in the Northwest ends with a view of a volcano.

Pictured here is Mount Rainier (or is it Adams?) but we also glimped Glacier Peak, Mount Baker, Sloan Peak, and Three Finger Mountain, amongst other less-prominent peaks.

Before we left, I snapped a photo of a paraglider perfectly framed over the summit of Tahoma.

The Descent

For the first time that I can remember, this descent took longer than the way up! What started off with comments of "what a lovely trail," and "our knees are going to feel so great" turned into a two-and-a-half-hour downhill battle. We reached the car just shy of 8pm happy to have made some progress on our bucket list hike list, but happy that this one was ticked.