Well, this was a first: kinda got a little trapped for a bit in the Mount Si parking lot because it was so insane that people were parking in the aisles (?). The "fire lane" was the width for about half a fire truck or ambulance. Anyway, I finally figured out the maze and got out through the entrance. Phew. Prepare for insanity if you go on a sunny day.
Anyway, I didn't want to deal with the Teneriffe gate and wanted to start early, so I pulled into the buzzing Si parking lot at 7 am this morning. Hopped on the Talus Loop over to the Teneriffe Falls connector trail. Up to the falls next. They weren't quite frozen unfortunately, but still pretty to look at. Trail in great shape, no snow of course.
From there, I plunged up the Kamikaze Trail to the summit. Trail is snow-free until about 500 feet from where it intersects with the Mount Teneriffe trail, just shy of the summit. It goes from no snow to icy horror in about two steps. I put on spikes, which probably weren't strictly required, but wow, it was steep and pure ice. Patches of frozen snow/ice remained until just below the summit block, which was itself snow-free. I was thrilled to enjoy complete solitude in the sun for a bit! Gorgeous views, light wind.
I took the longer, more gentle Mount Teneriffe Trail down. It starts out snow-free along the ridge, but soon patches of that same, solid snow/ice appear. It is SLICK. Don't underestimate it. I didn't put my spikes back on, because I just get annoyed walking on bare trail with them. But my poles really saved me, especially the couple times I slipped. Once I reached the junction with the connector over to Si, the snow patches finally vanished, and it was smooth sailing back over to Talus and the crazy parking lot. Beautiful day!
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