Bare Mountain Hike

Robin called us up wondering if we'd like to go on a hike on Saturday to Bare Mountain. We'd never even heard of it, and it looked like a good challenge, so we decided to go for it! It's a ways out there, about two hours from Seattle, and much of it driven on a pretty rough road. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, as I didn't read the trail review very closely. All I knew was that it went up to an old fire watch site, and there were 47 switchbacks in the last couple miles. We headed out onto the trail around 12:45, with lots of sunshine, perfect temperature, and no one else around us on the trail!
The trail wanders through the forest on a pretty slight incline for the first mile, where you cross a pretty stream with the gorgeous pool and natural slide! We decided we would hit the water on the way down, and continued upward. Unfortunately, it was not hot anymore when we came back down at 5:30, so we'll have to try again on another hot day! The next 3/4 of a mile became a bit steeper, still in the woods.

Robin braves the stream crossing!

The trail then opens up into the coolest fern forest! It was a meadow with ferns growing as tall and taller than us in some areas! There were gorgeous views all along this mile, and the trail was pretty easy going other than watching for holes and being a bit hard to see in places because of overgrowth!



We then began the climb. And climb and climb and climb we did! It was actually quite nice knowing how many switchbacks I had to endure, it kept me well paced and aware of just how much further I needed to make my legs work! This hike has a 3200 ft elevation gain, and almost all of it is in the last 2 miles, so by the time we were nearing the top, my thighs were burning pretty good!

A lovely lake view to keep us going!

It was HOT out on the southern facing switchback part of the trail ! I don't think I have ever lost so much moisture on a hike!

Being able to see the summit we were going for helped, too!

It felt really exhilarating to make it to the top, and the views were worth every ache in my body!

We had the top to ourselves for almost an hour, where we had an excellent lunch and relaxed for a bit! Another group made it up there just as we were heading down, so we got a nice group shot!

On the way back down, we crossed paths with a few people, including some Bainbridge kids we know! It's a small world! :)
We all had some excellent blisters, we feel we earned them on this hike! If you are up for a challenge with a huge payoff, I highly recommend this one! We grabbed a really nice dinner in North Bend at the North Bend Bar and Grill, where I had one of the best burgers of my life! Maybe that's just the hike talking! Glad we took a risk on this hike, I am normally pretty hesitant to do hikes rated "difficult" but now I know I can do them!