Talus Loop — Friday, Nov. 28, 2025

What's worse than a giraffe with a sore throat? A hiker with plantar fasciitis. Thankfully, my case has cleared up enough that I felt ready to stick my toes back in the steep North Bend terrain. I hadn't done the Talus Loop before and it looked like a nice short alternative to Mt Si. And it was a lovely adventure for the day after Thanksgiving, with no rain falling, but an ethereal interplay lasting all morning between mist in the valley and brilliant sunshine overhead. Snow hasn't reached these lower elevations yet. The trail is mostly mud-free and the rocks, though wet, were not too slippery. Hardly anyone uses this trail, so you can enjoy a morning of forest solitude before merging back onto the heavy-use trails, whether your next destination is the parking lot or a longer day of hiking at higher elevations.

If you do plan on using the Talus Loop as a connector between Si and Teneriffe (either direction), take the upper branch rather than the lower branch if you want the view from the eponymous talus slope.