Even though it was a very stormy wet day with very high avalanche danger, we wanted to get some elevation gain and a good workout. Party of 3 headed out from the Little Si trailhead around 10:45am, just a couple cars there.

We took the Little Si Trail to the Boulder Garden Loop- first turn to the right and wound up the hill past the lovely mossy boulders. It was a storm, so it wasn’t unexpected to find the trail quite wet, with some very large puddles covering the trail in places. About a mile up, at a junction not-so-helpfully marked as the “Boulder Garden Loop”, we turned right and headed up to summit Mt Si via the old trail. From the end of the Boulder Garden Loop we took, this is the *second* such sign along the trail.

The Old Si Trail is in good condition, as usual. With the stormy weather there were considerable puddles and water along the trail, but again, this was to be expected. This is a steeper trail than some, so it was a bit slippery in places with the mud/water/detritus, but I found it manageable with sturdy boots. Past the intersection of the “Northwest Passage” unmaintained trail that leads back to the main Mt Si Trail, the rain started to turn gradually more slushy as we ascended, but we didn’t reach true snow until perhaps 3,000 feet of elevation. (no altimeter, just a guess).

Once in the snow, traction devices were necessary for safe travel. 2 in our party had microspikes, which were excellent for conditions, the 3rd had snowshoes- which worked well enough when necessary. I’d pick spikes over snowshoes because there were intermittent bare areas between areas with deeper snow. The snow was packed hard enough to not posthole into it, but I could see evidence of past postholing in sections. It wasn’t hard to follow the trail, although experience with the trail was helpful towards the junction with the Old Si trail. Close to the junction and beyond was wet fresh snow, which was rather slippery at times.

Reached the top of the trail but chose not to try for the area below the Haystack as the snowshoes as traction devices didn’t seem appropriate there with all the exposed rock. No nosy birds after our snacks this time! I was very glad to have the traction devices and poles for the slippery way down the snowy section of the trail. We didn’t see anyone from trailhead in the morning, to trailhead return around 3pm. I’d highly recommend coming prepared for snow and cold if you want to take this trail. I learned that my softshell definitely doesn't perform in a downpour like this one- it was worth it to have proper raingear in the pack. :)