Today was a GREAT day for a hike - not too warm, not too cold, not too windy... and the sun was out! This was my first trip up Mt. Si, as I finally succumbed to the pressure. There were a couple muddy spots and even one or two with standing water, but overall, the trail is in excellent shape - well maintained for the amount of use it receives. I got to the TH at about 3:15, trails end by 5:10, true summit by 5:30... and then it took me 45 minutes to downclimb the haystack scramble route. The whole way up the scramble, I only looked UP - never back at what I had climbed - when it came time to go back down, I was a bit suprised at what I had done. Why does it always look so much steeper from above? If you're generally not into scrambling, don't waste your time and energy on the haystack - the view is good, but not that much better than from the other viewpoints, and for me, the mental anguish wasn't worth it ;) after the downclimb and a break at mile post 4 (the sane end of the trail), I started back down a bit after 7, and was in the car by 8:30. All in all, an excellent day - on the way up, I passed a lot of people coming down. On the way down, there were still those going up, presumably to view what turned out to be a spectacular sunset.

We arrived at the parking lot around 1:30 pm, for my first foray to Mt. Si. I had never been before fearing the trail would be over-run with humans. We started up and I began counting. I stopped at 150 people, 9.5 dogs(one was so small it was being carried so it only counts as 1/2) and 5 people chatting on their cell phones. It was slightly crowded. The book, ""55 hikes in Snoqualmie..."" estimated 8 hours which seemed like a gross exageration since we did it in a little less than 4. When we got to the top we did the scramble up to the tippy-top which was quite pleasant if a little scary. All in all a worthwhile hike but I won't be back till I forget this time. Steve

Drizzle as Eastgate had me questioning this idea. Additional drizzle at North Bend had me more seriously questioning this idea. But it did not seem to deter others as I was in the second tier of parking (more later) at around 8am. Trail is fine. Not much of anything out of the ordinary to report. There is a bit of snow at the basin. Oh, yeah, while it did drip on me somewhere during the first mile, the sun was adequate and I stretched out on the bench at the saddle by the Haystack climb. Down was fine but there seemed an inordinate number of people. More than that. Back to the parking lot. It was overflowing with cars who added two additional tiers of parking stalls on the west end of the parking aisles. And also parked on both sides of the driveway for at least a block or two in both directions. And speaking of overflow, the Little Si (or old trail) Parking lot and the new lot had folks and there were cars parked all the way back to the road to North Bend by the Espresso Stand. Oh, well, it was a memorable Memorial Day.

Very nice hike, not allot of foot traffic today. Spotted a very large woodpecker, two chipmunks and several birds. Was a bit disappointed as I reached the summit some clouds had moved in and blocked the view, but no rain! I also met the Mount Si volunteer trail keeper and helped clear some downed trees. On the way down he suggested I take the Creek trail, it's new and has much less traffic and is the same distance as the old trail. Happy Hiking!!

Well, it only drizzled a tiny bit. Not really any dubious snow left at the top. It was a Japanese landscape at the top with a fine marine air mass creating misty views to the south and east. There were a million and one people out and about today and about one less dog. Of course sitting at home right now, the sun is out and temperatures have risen. Well, one of those quirky aspects of living in the pacific northWET.