Mount Si: Not surprising on a very wet day like today many mud-holes could be found. However, balmy temperatures cleared a lot of the snow on the final mile. Only the last quarter mile was a little tricky, as the trail was saturated with an inch or two of a soggy, slippery, slushy mess. Poles highly recommended for this area. Once on the rocky outcrops, cold rain-soaked wind displayed a few flakes here and there but nothing doing...mostly steady rain. A couple inches of snow still remains. I caught a couple thieving feathered friends even braving the wetness to have a chance at my sandwich. They failed miserably though. I didn't stay too long as I was wet enough, and, besides, I could barely make out the haystack behind me. Overall, the trail was good, not too horribly busy. Enjoyed this day.

The trail is snow free until the last mile or so. Then about an inch or two. One small blow-down a short way up from the trail head.

The trail was in excellent shape, with no snow until the last mile. However, and more importantly, car prowl at the trailhead is becoming more sophisticated. The usual warnings about not leaving anything of value in view may not be good enough anymore. While I was hiking, someone broke in to my vehicle and tried to pry the locked glove compartment open. It looked like they had used a slim jim (what the police or AAA use) or similar tool to open the door, to avoid breaking a window and making noise. The only thing of value in the vehicle was the stereo, part of which was locked in the glove compartment. I suspect they were hoping there would be a wallet or something else valuable in there. Please: don't leave anything of value in your vehicle, in view or out of view, even at busy trailheads like Mt. Si. That should eventually discourage this activity. And report any suspicious activity to the police.

Trail in good shape for first 2.5 mi. Rained/snowed the night before. I started out about 10am and hit the snow about 11.30. I could tell that quite a few folks had slipped and slid the packed snow into an icy mess prior to my arrival. Good day to have trekking poles & crampons. The crazy guys attempting to scale the haystack only got halfway - too much wind and not enough layers (brrrr!). Saw more people in trail running shoes slip on their butts than I can count on two hands.

I arrived at the trailhead at about 4:30 AM but waited for some time before heading out as I didn't want to be hiking in darkness. I misjudged and ended up somewhere after mile marker 3.5 when the sun finally came up. From trailhead to the summit took me just shy of 2 hours. Snow began to appear on the trail sometime shortly after the 2.5 mile marker and it appeared that there was about 3-4 inches of fresh powder, however I made it to about halfway up haystack with just normal hiking boots. Crampons were not needed that early in the morning (before other hikers and stomped the snow into slippery ice). Trekking poles are highly recommended. My thermometer said 28 degrees when I arrived at the base of the haystack, however the sun had not yet really hit the mountain. My attempt on haystack was aborted primarly due to my lightweight gloves soaking through and a rather heartstopping slide on my second attempt up. The last 15 feet before the base of the haystack (and those two little benches) did have approximately knee or lower thigh deep fresh snow. On the way up I only encountered one other hiker, it seems that early morning is the time to go if you want to avoid the crowds, however on the way back down I started running into large hiking parties (8+ people) at around mile marker 2. I believe I was the first on the summit this morning (as there were no bootprints to follow after I overtook that one other hiker), and this is the way to enjoy the summit, I think, but you should arrive on the summit before 7 am. There was little wind to speak of, perhaps 1-3 mph at worst. Weather in general was very good, however clouds obscured the Mt Rainier views. Comments on this trail in general: until after mile marker 3.5, the trail is covered in forest so much that the views don't really exist, of course since I was in darkness before mile marker 3.5 maybe I missed something good.