Got up to Mount Si with Soaring Eagle on an overcast day. Forecast looked like minimal precipitation and it turned out just that. Light rain at TH but dry throughout the hike. No views though, socked in. In order to try something different, we did a loop going right off the Si trail onto the Talus Loop trail. Once we hit the Mt Teneriffe trail we went left uphill and took that until the Mt Si - Teneriffe Connector trail and went left until we arrived at the Haystack bench. We took a short break there and briefly discussed climbing the haystack, but it was all snow covered and probably sketchy in places so we opted not to. Within 10-15 mins the cold started to creep in, so we stayed layered up and made our way down the normal Si trail.

There was a surprising amount of newer snow up there, 6" deep on the connector trail going to Si. There were no tracks on this part. We noticed before the hike that all the surrounding peaks had a healthy amount of snow quite far down. Snow started probably around the 3000' level. 

Stats: 8.7 miles, 3400' gain, 4:22 total time, 0:20 stopped time

Gear: Waterproof boots (TX4s), gaiters, poles. Brought spikes, but never used them. 

Arrived at 7:30 am with a couple other cars in the lot. Immediately behind me about 5 more vehicles arrived ready to hit the trail with the sunrise, and then more ... There was a large group hike meeting at this time as I found out.

I headed up the trail ahead of the group and had it largely to myself. Beautful light coming through the trails on this clear sunny day. Trail in great condition. Muddy in places, but pretty clean considering the recent rainfall. Tree down over the trail at about 1.7 miles, but easy to pass under. Snow mainly snow free most of the way, with snow / slush accumulating around 3.6 miles. I used my spikes for the last little ascent just to minimze slipping, but didn't really need them. Useful for the descent, though.

Wandered around the top and over to the haystack. Climbed up the back a bit, but decided against it as I was my pup. Found a crag out of the wind at the mountain view and hung for a bit enjoying the clear views before heading down. Many groups heading up, but didn't seem crowded. Great day to finally hike this one.

A popular hike for good reason! Beautiful views today from the lunch rocks and a great way to celebrate my birthday. But mostly I came here to say if you go up in the next few days, be sure to bring microspikes if you can, and poles too would be helpful - many folks were slipping and sliding on the melting slushy snow in the last mile or so before the summit, and one person I passed gave up entirely because they couldn't get enough traction to keep going.

Started out with some fog, but it cleared up pretty quickly. Really nice day for a hike overall. Around 1.7 miles in, I started seeing a bit of snow on the trail. It gradually increased as I went up, but it was packed down and easy to walk on. I threw on my microspikes for part of the way down, though plenty of people were doing fine without them. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have them, especially for the descent.

There were two fallen trees across the trail earlier in the day. On my way back, one had already been cut and moved, so only one was left.

The top was beautiful. The sky opened up just enough to get some nice views.

On the way down it was warming up, and the snow on the trees was melting. Some parts of the trail got muddy and a bit slippery, so just watch your step. 

If you lost you glove on Si today (Saturday), it at the TH board. Also at the TH board are someone's lost keys, but I don't know when they were placed there. Ford is the vehicle key.