Douglas Fir, Mount Si - Old Trail, Mount Si via Mount Teneriffe Trail & Roaring Creek — Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020

This was a Plan B hike after the trailhead for my first one (Thompson Lake via Granite Creek Trail) wound up having no cell service. I use a carshare (GIG) to go hiking, and they claim the cars will start with just a bluetooth connection to your phones, but having been burned twice this year, when I saw I had no service, I decided to play it safe and go somewhere I knew I'd have a signal.

(This was disappointing, though not surprising. AT&T service maps show this trailhead as having service, which was why I tried at all, but the Middle Fork is a black hole for cell signal -- great for peaceful hiking, bad for carshares)

Since it was REALLY cold, I thought there'd be fewer people than usual on Si, and I was in the area, so I decided to check the lot. There weren't many cars, and the trail system here has some good loop options, so I would be able to get a fairly long hike in, which I wanted. (A nice thing about the GIG cars is they each come with Discover Passes, so I was all set with my pass)

The Doug Fir trail is a lovely old road bed, a very different experience from the main Si trail.

I understand now why Si became such a popular trail for people training for Rainier. Old Si trail is more rugged-ey than the main Si trail. It's v e r y steep in places. I haven't done as much hiking as in a normal year but even accounting for being out of shape the section on the Old Si trail took me a LONG time. On the plus side, once you do get to the top, it's all downhill for the rest of the loop!

I hadn't ever done the Si scramble, and I had plenty of time, so I went up to the saddle just below the summit. I didn't like the looks of the final scramble (too much exposure and there had been ice on some of the rocks lower down) so I had lunch where I was, enjoying the view of Teneriffe, Baker, Bellevue and Seattle, and the Olympics. It was really chilly, but I had ramen (inspired by trip reporter dmkr's hike at Gothic Basin) and coffee, which was a great refuel.

The connector between Si and the Tenerrife trail was really nice -- rolling, moderate downhill and lots of good mushrooms.

Roaring Creek is also a great, rolling forest walk. I saw a couple of families using it. I bet it's a nice one for kids to hike.

Navigation was a breeze, for the most part. Each junction had a sign, though I did take a photo of the map at the trailhead so I could consult it while I hiked. The one area I got a teeny bit turned around was in the rockfield below the Si summit. I did a little clambering over the rockfield instead of staying to the right and walking through the woods to the bench at the base of the haystack.