Trail was good. Some mud and puddles. Drizzling a bit. Some flurries at the rock scramble.

Chilly day on the trail with snow flurries at the top.  Arrived at the trailhead at 8:30am and spots were quickly filling up, the lot was almost full.  Bathrooms were stocked.  Trail was busy as expected, and some muddy spots but nothing too bad.  Barely any visibility from the top, but still a good day on the trail.  

With the precip upon us my goal was to find a tree covered trail, a good work out, some solitude, hopefully a fairy slipper sighting, and a hike that could be completed before a 1:00 meeting with a slightly late am start.  I managed to complete this goal but was most excited to see 1 Fairy Slipper just when I thought I would not.  

Got to the TH lot close to 9 am with 4 other cars.  Started with a steady drizzle and a bit bundled up under a light rain shell.  Removed some layers 0.5 miles in.  The second stream was running strong.  The trail is wet but no muddy sections.  Continuing on up at a steady pace with my eyes looking to the ridge up side of the switchbacks in search for flowers, specifically orchids.  There are tons of yellow violets to be seen and mosses are exploding with all the cool moisture.  I moved quickly to stay warm and found it was not raining hard enough to wear rain pants.  I saw no other hikers until close to the summit (amazing for this trail).  Stayed at the false summit for 20 minutes since I seemed to have the time then bundled up to head down.  There is no snow of course.  Saw one drenched Jay stalking my lunch.  Of note there is kind of a “garden of Trillium” at the intersection of the new and old trails near the summit but the flowers were closed today.  Quickened my pace for the descent being mindful of wet roots and rocks.  It was so nice not needing to dodge other uphill hikers today as there were only a few.  On the last switchback just before the bench and Rainforest Naturalist area with signs, there is major evidence of trail cutting to the left.  It seems hikers go off trail here to cut off this last piece of trail and avoid the Naturalist trail area.  It’s looks to be a popular cut off and it’s really trampled.  It’s not cool to cut switchbacks.   Best to stay on trail.  

On the last 1.2 mile, I looked to my left and saw 1 lone Fairy Slipper growing out of the ridge side.  It made my day.  It’s the little things!  Another great outing on a popular and much repeated mountain hike.

Only a handful of parking spots left at 8:30am on a Saturday with beautiful weather. Lots of parking in the Fire Lane when I got down at 12:30pm. 😬

The trail is dry. A few remaining pockets of snow at the top, but nothing you have to walk over. There were a handful of people going up the haystack, which took me around 10-15 minutes to get up and another 10-15 to get down. Some folks turned around before getting to the top. It was cold and windy up there today!

I posted a GoPro video on instagram at BrianDecorahMBA if you’d like to see the views.

Great day on Si. My son, back from college, had never been up. So... since it wasn't a weekend...

Trailhead lot as always was good as long as you don't exceed 7 mph. Looks like theyd tried to fill the potholes but it didn't take.

Trail was in great shape. Great view of rainier, Salmonberry blooms everywhere...

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