Mount Si via Mount Teneriffe Trail, Roaring Creek, Talus Loop & Mount Teneriffe — Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023

Note to WTA: Can you please fix the bug where if your session expires while posting a report, all the report contents are lost? This is probably the third or fourth time I have filled out a lengthy report, only to have it disappear entirely when I hit submit and discover that I am not signed in. And this time, I even refreshed the page before I started the report, to ensure I was signed in.

On to the report. Inspired by SuprHikr's report from yesterday, I decided to try and make it up to the Haystack the "back way" via the Teneriffe Trail. It turned out to be a nice choice for a sunny day, and the Haystack looked very imposing with a coat of fresh snow.

PARKING / PEOPLE: No snow in the Mount Si lot, though some potholes are starting to form in the driveway in/out. I only saw three people on my hike, all of whom were on the lower section of the Mount Si trail in the morning, This is a great route for solitude.

ROUTE: I started at the Mount Si TH but you could do something similar from the Teneriffe TH if you make sure to get back before they close the gate. My route was: Mount Si Trail -> lower Talus Loop Trail -> Mount Teneriffe Trail -> Si-Teneriffe Connector -> Haystack rest stop (the bench next to the map by the Haystack).

On the way down I did the same route in reverse, except I descended all the way to the Roaring Creek Trail and took that back to the Mount Si Trail. I also took a shortcut through the woods to cut off the uppermost switchback. This worked but I don't recommend it since the trees are super close together and it was a pain getting through them.

SNOW: No snow at the bottom, but it started partway up the Talus Loop Trail. Above the Talus Loop junction, the Teneriffe Trail is all snow but it's only an inch or two until you get up past the Teneriffe Falls Connector. There were no other tracks above that point today but mine. The snow got progressively deeper as I ascended, and at about 2700' there started to be old snow under the 3-4" of new snow. I put on snowshoes at this point and broke trail up to the Si-Teneriffe junction, then onward over to the Haystack. It was slow going breaking trail by myself but I managed to reach the Haystack in about 3:30 from the car. In the upper sections there is probably 3-4' of snow in places.

Unfortunately, the tracks SuprHikr made yesterday were nowhere to be seen, buried by the new snow from last night. All I saw was a depression in the center of the trail - see picture #1. Still, I think the trail breaking was easier today than it might have been, thanks SuprHikr!  :)

On the return I filled in my track, and left the snowshoes on all the way down to the Teneriffe Falls Connector. I should have probably taken them off at 2700' since there were a number of sections below this where my snowshoes were bottoming out on the rocks.

If you go on a cold day when the snow is firm, you might now be able to do this hike with just boots and gaiters. However, you definitely need snowshoes if you head toward Teneriffe - no tracks that way. And of course my tracks will only last until the next snowstorm. 

SUMMARY: This turned out to be a really nice hike, about 10 miles and a great workout. I would say the Mount Teneriffe Trail is my favorite road-to-trail conversion. It has some nice views along the way and a steady but not too steep grade, mixed with a few flatter sections. The forest is much more open than what you get on the regular Si trails, and there are far fewer people, especially in the winter.