Seven of us from the Mountaineers did an early morning Lollipop loop from Teneriffe Trailhead up to Mt. Si's Haystack and back down the Si trail to Cedar Flats and Roaring Creek. Total moving time was 5:20 for 10+ miles and 3100' elevation as a "Go Getter" CHS-2 hike for May.
The trail is in great shape - zero snow and great drainage. I hadn't done the new Si trail in over five years, preferring old Si for less traffic. We saw more people on Si than anywhere on Teneriffe. The gate was closed at 7 when I drove past to the bus turnaround for a mile warm-up, but when we all met at 7:30 it was open.
We heard far more bird species on Teneriffe trail system than on Si, which had me puzzled - is it because of proximity to I-90, the rain, more foot traffic, or ?? Not sure. We only had 18 species at the tail end of spring migration, whereas I had 29 species at Exit 47 just two days earlier. Maybe they're all going higher up to beat the heat. I didn't hear a single thrush or flycatcher whereas they were abundant at Pratt Lake Basin on 5/27. Wednesday's heat eluded us; we were in spitting rain and fog for almost the entire trip until we returned to the cars around 1:20.
Fun group and decent pace, 2.3 up for the first hour and 2.2 overall including a 20-minute break at the base of the Haystack for a windy, foggy snack break. Thankful for the large parking lot and stocked Portapotties.
#HikeTheState
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