I hiked up to the Roaring Creek Bridge from the new Tenerrife Trailhead.  This is a great winter trail - nice sandy soil with very little mud.  Easy 2 mile or so round trip from the parking area.  The new trail joins the old trail, then a connector trail heads west from the Tenerrife Falls trail junctions.  Trail is in marvelous condition and well marked making it great for a short winter hike on a drizzly day.

This was a lollipop loop hike on the lower slopes of Mt. Si to check out a new DNR trail and bridge. Began my hike from the Little Si trailhead. Hiked up the Boulder Garden Loop Trail on an old roadbed past some rocks bigger then a three story house. The trail leaves the old road and goes up a couple of switchbacks  to the junction with the Douglas Fir trail. I was now back on a old roadbed for about 1/2 mile to where the new trail took off and was built across a small talus slope, then is was a short distance to meet the Mt. Si trail at a switchback. I hiked up the Si trail to a switchback that has three benches, so took a snack break and talked to a few other hikers. Further up is the junction with the Talus Loop Trail. I took this trail which heads back down to cross the talus slope (no great view today with all the clouds), then down a two switchbacks where the trail is back on another old roadbed. At the next trail junction signed "Mt. Teneriffe 0.1", I hiked the Spring Trail out to the Mount Teneriffe Trail. Some people might get confused by the mileage on the sign as it is 4.8 miles to the summit. I crossed a large creek on the Spring Trail which I was surprised was dried up with all the rain we have had lately. Out at the Mt. Teneriffe Trail, I hiked down hill to the junction with the Roaring Creek Trail. A little beyond the junction is a bridge over Roaring Creek with a nice waterfall to view.

I then hike back up hill a short distance and took the Roaring Creek Trail west bound. DNR had put in a turnpike with a culvert in a boggy area. When I got to the West Fork of Roaring Creek I saw the new DNR steel girder bridge with a wood deck and railings. This replaced where the trail had gone up and down a steep bank to cross the creek. There is also a waterfall at this location. It was now lunch time, so a found a fallen log for a bench. After eating I continued on to the junction with the lower section of the Talus Loop Trail. It was here I met a couple who where on their third hike ever. The had recently moved from Chicago, so I gave them some hiking info. When I got out to the Mt. Si trail, I had to head back up hill to the switchback and the junction with the Douglas Fir Trail. Now it was down hill to the Boulder Garden Loop Trail. When I got to the BGLT I started meeting other hikers heading up to hike the Old Mt. Si Trail to the summit (George had first hiked that trail with his dad and sister way back in 1960 when he was 11). Back down on the old roadbed part of the BGLT at one of the switchbacks I took a short side trail out to a big rock viewpoint. I could see down to the North Bend area, across the valley to Rattlesnake Mtn., Cedar Butte, the west flank of Mt. WA. and many snowy peaks in the background. Then it was down the Little Si Trail to finish the hike. Lucked out with the weather as it only sprinkled a short time while I was on the Talus Loop Trail. The sun even came out as I hiked back on the Douglas Fir Trail. Only saw a few other hikers on this trip. With the new Douglas Fir Trail connecting the Little Si Trail with the main Mt. Si Trail, hikers have another route up the mountain, plus other loops. Check out some of the other less crowded trails. George

For the latest map of the hiking trails on Mt. Si, see the following link to the DNR website for the Mount Si NRCA Trail Map. www.dnr.wa.gov/geo/mountsi.pdf

I wanted to check out the new trail head parking.  Nice to arrive at 10:00 am and have so many spots to choose from, plus squeaky clean out houses.  The new connector trail starts up with a gentle grade and adds a couple of hundred extra feet to the old school bus turn around trail start.  I clocked the total elevation gain to Teneriffe Falls as 1600 ft.  Foxgloves lined much of the trail, especially in the beginning.  I also saw some salmonberries and a few red huckleberries.  The trail is nice and shady which is welcome on a hot day.  After the dog-leg turn for the final fairly brutal climb the trail becomes very rocky and crosses some hot and exposed talus slopes.  After seeing the dry creek bed on the way up I was worried the falls would be dry too.  They are still cascading but the flow is quite low now for this seasonal fall.  There is not much space at the falls to sit so after admiring the cascading water I returned back down the trail to eat lunch by the dry creek.

After returning to the main Mt Teneriffe trail I headed up, crossing 3 bridges, to find the junction with the lower Roaring Creek trail.  There is a pretty waterfall at the the third bridge worth adding the extra mile to my hike.  From here I turned around and headed home.

Returning to the parking lot I found a very hot car as there is very little shade and the black-top had things sizzling nicely.