Hanging With The Mailman on Mailbox Peak

It all started with a note.

My good friend Anne trekked up Mailbox Peak on Saturday. She knew I had plans to make the hike on Sunday so she left me a note in the mailbox. When I got the text Saturday night with this photo, I was honestly a bit giddy. I mean, note passing in 7th grade – so fun. Note passing at 5,000 ft – who can beat that?

We started the hike early, hitting the trail with the morning fog still looming. It was honestly a godsend. Walking through the cloud acted as our built in AC as we battled the steep trail.

When I say steep, I mean straight up. Literally straight up. There are no switch backs on this trail. I consider myself a fast hiker – usually doing 20-25 min. miles. We felt like we were working hard and barely took any brakes, but we still couldn’t go faster than one mile an hour.

And it was worth it. This doesn’t even begin to sum up the stunning view. Rainier was out. Cascade peaks were poking through the cloud cover. It was beautiful.

I couldn’t wait to open this thing. I ran up, got right in the way of people trying to snap photos and started searching for my note.

Found it!

I loved getting this note. It’s true. A tough hike puts you in a meditative state. It shows you what your body can do. It clears your mind. It makes you appreciate your surroundings and the beauty that’s too easy to forget in the rush of the day to day.

As we were making the trek down I overheard a conversation behind me. A hiker was telling a passerby that last time he came up here he found 4 letters with stamps on them. So he took them with him and mailed them (including a photo of himself at the summit!) I turned around expecting to just see a fellow hiker, but instead found a real life mailman. He was bummed that he didn’t find any letters to mail this time. But I was thrilled to see him – full uniform and all.

I-90 below. The good stuff above.

By the time we reached the very bottom, it was a perfect sunny day. The type of sunny day that heats up the trees and makes the air smell amazing.

Mailbox Peak has been on my Washington bucket list for a long time. I’m proud to say I finally had the guts to check it off the list. It’s one of the tougher hikes I’ve ever done, but definitely one for the books!