01-09-24
President
Carter's memorial was a
holiday for my business. I had an unexpected holiday to go hiking. Gary
was free to join me. We considered a ski trip but the conditions seemed
a little iffy. Not much new snow and some freeze-thaw days. The west
slopes of the Cascades were showing 20+ mph winds. At least there would
be no rain. We needed a break from Tiger Mountain and decided for a
loop we had not done over Mt. Si. We get up Mt. Si most years via the
Old Trail or the Mt. Teneriffe Road/Trail. We seldom go up the New
Trail anymore. It is usually way too crowded. With this holiday that
few would get, we decided it was a good opportunity to go up the New
Mt. Si Trail. We left Seattle at 7:20 am, ahead of the worst rush hour
traffic. We arrived at the trailhead at about 8:10 am. There were about
eight or nine cars in the lot. I expected the high 30s but it was 43F.
We were packed up and on our way at 8:18 am. Though we seldom
hike up the new trail we have been doing a loop up the old trail and
down the new and back on the Douglas Fir Trail. We miss the first mile
on that route.
Though the trail gains over 3000' of elevation it is seldom really steep. Snag Flats is pretty flat but otherwise it goes up at a steady grade. This time of year there is not a lot to photograph so I did not take many photos on the way up. We set a moderate pace. Several groups passed us coming down. A few faster hikers went by us. We even passed one group. That was about it for hikers sightings. It was definitely not crowded. We stopped at Snag Flats and that was abut it. Per recent trip reports, there is no snow until nearing the first rocky section where views begin. We brought microspikes and used them but not on the way up. It was slick going up the rock steps but we managed without traction devices. In Haystack Basin the snow began. We headed over to the benches with views to the west. The benches were in shade. We opted to go a little higher into the sunshine for our brunch spot. We arrived at 10:45 am. Forecast wind gusts at Si varied from about 10-27 mph. We had about 2-5 mph gusts. 27 mph would have been brutal. It was chilly but not freezing on top.
We were in no hurry to head down. The Olympics and Issaquah Alps stood above a layer of fog below. North Bend was also in the clear though not by much. Seattle was not visible. It was great to be well above the fog in bright sunshine while it was dark and gloomy below. There were a couple other guys nearby though they did not stay long. For most of the time, we had Haystack Basin to ourselves. Though we could not see Mt. Rainier, we did go a bit higher before leaving and we could see most of the mountain. It was in the clear. Later the fog burned off a little and the tops of the towers of downtown Seattle came into view. It was 11:57 am when we packed up and left. We decided to take the Mt. Teneriffe Road/Trail down then connect backup with the Mt. Si Trail in the first mile. I expected we would see even fewer people on that route than on the way up. I was right. I also expected to have more snow on the upper trail going down.
We hiked up to the top of the Mt. Si trail next to the Haystack and then took the connector trail from Si to the Teneriffe Trail. We reached the highest point of the day along here at about 4040'. Then it was all downhill. We put on microspikes when we started back. the snow was thin but slick. Spikes were not necessary but the traction helped. Neither of us slipped and fell. It is .80 miles down to the Teneriffe Trail and it was snowy all the way. It was getting very thing by the junction. We kept the spikes on through a few bare spots with more ice beyond. A little below the junction we removed them. It was 4 miles up the Mt. Si Trail but more than 5 miles down. The Teneriffe Trail takes some long switchbacks. It was a shame to go back into forest though we did have a few open spots with sunshine going down. I don't recall seeing a single person until we were back on the Mt. Si Trail. On my last trip up Mt. Teneriffe, I took the new trail over to Teneriffe Falls. We decided to take it over to the bridge near the Teneriffe Falls Trail. It added a little extra mileage. Coming down the Teneriffe Trail we found several trees down across the trail. We moved one off the trail and Gary had a chance to use his new saw to cut branches off and improve the route. Several big trees await big saws to remove. It is now easy to step over or under the logs.
There are two crossover trails between the Teneriffe and Mt. Si Trails. We had both been on the upper one. Gary thought he had been on the lower one. I had not. We chose the lower one. The first surprise was the big bridge not far from the Teneriffe Trail. The old path dropping steeply to the creek and climbing the far bank is still visible. The bridge makes it really easy. The trail goes through some pretty forest and is a worthwhile walk on its own. We met the Mt. Si Trail right where the other crossover trail meets it. Now we just had about .80 miles back to the car. This went by pretty quickly. We did see a hiker heading uphill. Near the bottom Gary noticed a zippered pouch on the trail. It was someones phone. It had the owners email address on the lock screen.
We finished the hike at 3:28 pm. We decided to take the phone to the police department and let them reunite the phone with its owner. It turns out that North Bend and Snoqualmie share a police department. We took a short detour to Snoqualmie and dropped off the phone. The story has a happy ending as the phone and owner were reunited. It was now late enough to worry about rush hour on the drive home. Traffic looked pretty bad on the traffic map. We headed west expecting a long slow drive from Eastgate to I-5. Well, the mainline was pretty slow. We sat in the carpool lane and zipped on by. We must have save half an hour over the solo driver lanes. Luck was shining on us all day.
This was an unexpected hike as I was free due to an ex-president's death. The weather was great. That was especially nice as my previous hike on Sunday was in the rain for all four hours. A relatively warm sunny day in early January is not the norm. Though we had hiked nearly all the route we did it was the first time we did this loop. For me it was a short new trail. It's not easy for me to hike a trail for the first time that is close to home. I have hiked Mt. Si when there are well fewer hikers than normal but this day the trail was nearly empty. It was also nice to have the time for nearly 1.25 hours on top in bright sunshine. Add in the nearly empty car pool lane and someone was looking out for us. It was a great unexpected mid-week hike.
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Though the trail gains over 3000' of elevation it is seldom really steep. Snag Flats is pretty flat but otherwise it goes up at a steady grade. This time of year there is not a lot to photograph so I did not take many photos on the way up. We set a moderate pace. Several groups passed us coming down. A few faster hikers went by us. We even passed one group. That was about it for hikers sightings. It was definitely not crowded. We stopped at Snag Flats and that was abut it. Per recent trip reports, there is no snow until nearing the first rocky section where views begin. We brought microspikes and used them but not on the way up. It was slick going up the rock steps but we managed without traction devices. In Haystack Basin the snow began. We headed over to the benches with views to the west. The benches were in shade. We opted to go a little higher into the sunshine for our brunch spot. We arrived at 10:45 am. Forecast wind gusts at Si varied from about 10-27 mph. We had about 2-5 mph gusts. 27 mph would have been brutal. It was chilly but not freezing on top.
We were in no hurry to head down. The Olympics and Issaquah Alps stood above a layer of fog below. North Bend was also in the clear though not by much. Seattle was not visible. It was great to be well above the fog in bright sunshine while it was dark and gloomy below. There were a couple other guys nearby though they did not stay long. For most of the time, we had Haystack Basin to ourselves. Though we could not see Mt. Rainier, we did go a bit higher before leaving and we could see most of the mountain. It was in the clear. Later the fog burned off a little and the tops of the towers of downtown Seattle came into view. It was 11:57 am when we packed up and left. We decided to take the Mt. Teneriffe Road/Trail down then connect backup with the Mt. Si Trail in the first mile. I expected we would see even fewer people on that route than on the way up. I was right. I also expected to have more snow on the upper trail going down.
We hiked up to the top of the Mt. Si trail next to the Haystack and then took the connector trail from Si to the Teneriffe Trail. We reached the highest point of the day along here at about 4040'. Then it was all downhill. We put on microspikes when we started back. the snow was thin but slick. Spikes were not necessary but the traction helped. Neither of us slipped and fell. It is .80 miles down to the Teneriffe Trail and it was snowy all the way. It was getting very thing by the junction. We kept the spikes on through a few bare spots with more ice beyond. A little below the junction we removed them. It was 4 miles up the Mt. Si Trail but more than 5 miles down. The Teneriffe Trail takes some long switchbacks. It was a shame to go back into forest though we did have a few open spots with sunshine going down. I don't recall seeing a single person until we were back on the Mt. Si Trail. On my last trip up Mt. Teneriffe, I took the new trail over to Teneriffe Falls. We decided to take it over to the bridge near the Teneriffe Falls Trail. It added a little extra mileage. Coming down the Teneriffe Trail we found several trees down across the trail. We moved one off the trail and Gary had a chance to use his new saw to cut branches off and improve the route. Several big trees await big saws to remove. It is now easy to step over or under the logs.
There are two crossover trails between the Teneriffe and Mt. Si Trails. We had both been on the upper one. Gary thought he had been on the lower one. I had not. We chose the lower one. The first surprise was the big bridge not far from the Teneriffe Trail. The old path dropping steeply to the creek and climbing the far bank is still visible. The bridge makes it really easy. The trail goes through some pretty forest and is a worthwhile walk on its own. We met the Mt. Si Trail right where the other crossover trail meets it. Now we just had about .80 miles back to the car. This went by pretty quickly. We did see a hiker heading uphill. Near the bottom Gary noticed a zippered pouch on the trail. It was someones phone. It had the owners email address on the lock screen.
We finished the hike at 3:28 pm. We decided to take the phone to the police department and let them reunite the phone with its owner. It turns out that North Bend and Snoqualmie share a police department. We took a short detour to Snoqualmie and dropped off the phone. The story has a happy ending as the phone and owner were reunited. It was now late enough to worry about rush hour on the drive home. Traffic looked pretty bad on the traffic map. We headed west expecting a long slow drive from Eastgate to I-5. Well, the mainline was pretty slow. We sat in the carpool lane and zipped on by. We must have save half an hour over the solo driver lanes. Luck was shining on us all day.
This was an unexpected hike as I was free due to an ex-president's death. The weather was great. That was especially nice as my previous hike on Sunday was in the rain for all four hours. A relatively warm sunny day in early January is not the norm. Though we had hiked nearly all the route we did it was the first time we did this loop. For me it was a short new trail. It's not easy for me to hike a trail for the first time that is close to home. I have hiked Mt. Si when there are well fewer hikers than normal but this day the trail was nearly empty. It was also nice to have the time for nearly 1.25 hours on top in bright sunshine. Add in the nearly empty car pool lane and someone was looking out for us. It was a great unexpected mid-week hike.
 Getting Started |
 A Little Sunshine |
 Gary Leads The Way |
 Rock Steps |
 The Haystack |
 Dense Fog Below |
 The Olympic Mountains |
 Tiger Mountain |
 North Bend Below |
 Cold Shady Benches |
 Downtown Seattle |
 Mt. Rainier |
 Fog Is Clearing |
 Snoqualmie Casino |
 Snow In The Basin |
 Nearing Highest Point |
 Snowy Trail |
 Si-Teneriffe Junction |
 Mt. Teneriffe Summit |
 Another Switchback |
 Road Turned To Trail |
 Mossy Trees |
 Turnaround Spot |
 January Wildflower |
 Colorful Herb Robert |
 On A New To Me Trail |
 Small Waterfall |
 Nice Trail |
 Ferns Everywhere |
 Nearing The End |
 Sun On Moss |
 Almost Finished |
Trips - 2025
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