Kidz Won't Hike and I hiked up to the northwest ridge of Mount Si, that connects with the upper part of the Haystack. The plan was to climb it from there, but we encountered ice covered rocks and given the exposure risk and class 3 terrain, we decided to bail. Instead, we went the other way and tagged the North Peak of Mount Si. Weather was cloud covered but pleasant for the hike.
Hiked up the old trail which is in great shape. Not too wet or muddy and snow free. Smattering of snow started at 3600', but not much snow to speak of up there. Maybe an inch in places, bare in others. The main challenge today was icy rocks once out of the trees. We made our way to the Si Overlook section next to the Haystack, and then from there dropped down left to circumnavigate the Haystack and go up a southwest gully that ends at a rocky ridge between Si North Peak and the Haystack. This gully section is not too long, but it is steep and with the icy rocks, we tried to stick to the scree and dirt sections. We didn't use microspikes, just poles, on the way up, but on the way down we put on spikes. Once we hit the ridge we dropped our poles and put on some gloves as it was cold, and then made our way to the right to attempt to get up to the ridge right before the final Haystack scramble. Unfortunately we encountered ice covering many of the rocks and after poking around a bit, decided it wasn't worth the risk. It's only a short way to the summit from here, but there are 2 class 3 sections 20-30' with huge fall potential. We made our way back down, grabbed our poles, and went over to the North Peak, which we first climbed in Jan 2025. That was a nice consolation prize. Overall a fun outing, with a bit of spice going up and down the gully and clambering over some icy rocks.
Stats: 6.6 miles, 3,700' gain, 4:30 total time, 0:42 stopped time
Gear: Poles, Microspikes, waterproof boots with good grip on the rock
GPX: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=3058218
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