Mount Si, Mount Si via Mount Teneriffe Trail & Talus Loop — Tuesday, Apr. 2, 2024

A fun loop today up at Mount Si. I took the regular Mount Si Trail to the top, then had lunch at the Haystack, then took the Si-Teneriffe Connector and the Teneriffe Trail down to the Talus Loop, then back to the main trail and my car. About 9 miles with 3,500' of gain. A bit longer than the main route, but worth it for the scenery and solitude for the return trip.

MOUNT SI TRAIL: No issues, the trail is in great shape. No snow or mud anywhere on the trail all the way to the "lunch viewpoint" in the boulder field. There is some intermittent snow on the trail if you continue on to the Snoqualmie Valley overlook or up toward the Haystack, but it's pretty minimal and I didn't use traction. Trail runners worked great on this trail today. I didn't count but probably passed about 50 people one way or the other on my way to the top.

HAYSTACK: The Haystack was 95% dry today, but there were some lingering pockets of snow that were melting out, mostly on climber's left. This resulted in some wet rock below the snow. I would recommend taking the route up climber's right, as this was dry pretty much all the way up, and seemed a bit easier to me. Excellent weather up on top today, with very little wind and pretty good views. The Haystack is definitely a fear-inducing route with the potential for serious injury or death. Know your abilities and don't be afraid to turn around if you feel unsafe. There were two people at the top while i was having lunch, and I came across 5 or 6 other people on their way up or down.

SI-TENERIFFE CONNECTOR: This is where most of the remaining snow is. It comes in fits and spurts, with the longest snowy sections maybe being about 200' long. There is a firm bootpack in the center, so no post-holing. It was a bit slippery with my trail runners, but manageable since the grade in this section is not steep. Even if I had spikes, I probably wouldn't have bothered to put them on. I was somewhat shocked to run across four other people on this trail today - two going down, two going up.

TENERIFFE TRAIL: The snow continues on and off below the connector trail, but there is none below 3500'. The trail is a bit muddy in places where the snow is still melting, but it wasn't much of a problem. There is one 12" blowdown on this trail at the 2000' level, but it's easily stepped over. This trail is one of the nicer road-to-trail conversions around, in my opinion. A bit rocky in places, but it has some nice scenery including views over to Teneriffe, views of Rainier, cool red rocks, and a few stream crossings. The forest is also prettier than what you'll get on the Mount Si Trail. And, you'll hardly see any people.

TALUS LOOP TRAIL: No issues on this trail. It's a bit more primitive than other trails in the area, but the tread is soft and it's a nice forest ramble. I generally prefer the Roaring Creek Trail when I do this loop, but I wanted to check out the newly-rerouted section of the Talus Loop Trail. It's a nice reroute, to be sure, but it only involved the bottom few hundred feet of the trail, so most of the trail was unchanged. I would still recommend Roaring Creek, which is gentler and more scenic. Plus, you avoid the uphill part of Talus Loop that occurs when you get on it from the Teneriffe Trail.