Mailbox Peak - Snoqualmie Region

“Mailbox Peak is not the sort of hike that is chosen for a fun, easy outing. The grade of the trail makes it one of the much more difficult hikes in the I-90 corridor. Often in Spring and early summer, you will see mountaineers lugging full heavyweight packs up and down to condition for Mt. Rainier or Mt. Baker trips. Although this hike is a real challenge, mountain folks retain their sense of humor with an inside joke. Mailbox Peak actually has a mailbox on top with a summit log and a changing assortment of mail in it. This strange tradition goes back to the 1950s. What does the mail consist of you wonder? Well, go see for yourself!” [4Feet]: Mailbox peak is not sitting on a high elevation (4,841 ft), but the hiking to the top via the old trail is brutally challenging especially in mid-November. An elevation gain of 4,100 feet over merely 2.5-3 miles one way made its fearsome reputation (though there is a newer, gentler trail which takes twice as much distance to achieve the summit). Yet, we always choose the hard one as it has been our hiking tradition. Most of the trail was hidden in the wood surrounded by tall pine trees. Hardly any ground-level vegetation until the end of the forest. After breaking off the tree line, a rocky climb was in sight. In mid-November, the rocky climb turned into a very steep snowfield. Microspikes and trekking poles are the musts. On top of the mailbox peak, we were granted a mailbox and a 360-degree landscape of North Bend mountain ranges and the Cascades. Hikers usually leave notes in the mailbox, but in winter, hikers leave food and drinks for people in need. Unfortunately, a snowy November keeps the cloud low and grey in western Washington. We were not able to spot Mount Rainier. Yet, we did see Mount Stuart (9,416 ft), which gave us some bad ideas for the next couple of weeks. 11/22/2020