Wanted to kind of check out how Si was doing after the snow.
In a nutshell. Nothing to speak of up to Snag flats. very patchy above there until around the 2.5 mile marker. The snow gets pretty steady above the 2.5 mile marker and constant above 3 miles. Never deep and all packed down on the trail. Traction devices recommended. I saw people without some doing better than others. The snow was actually better higher up as there was some texture to it.
Talus/K Falls junction from main Si trail.
1 mile marker Mt. Si trail. No snow.
1.5 mile marker area No snow yet.
Some limited snow below upper Talus junction. Not much of note.
Snag flats.
Little snow just above Snag flats but disappears quick.
2 mile marker. Still no snow to speak of.
Starting to get some snow between 2 and 2.5 miles but no traction devices yet.
Just past the 2.5 mile marker I put on the microspikes.
2.5 mile marker. Snow would start pretty consistently just past here.
Just past 2.5 mile marker. Time for traction devices for sure.
Snowy covered trail for the duration a little past the 2.5 mile marker.
Above 3 miles it was a white trail. Lots of people had microspikes. A few had yaktrax, some had nothing and seemed to be doing OK but sometimes grabbing stuff and going slow.
Snow on Mt. Si trail above 3 mile marker.
Snow on Mt Si trail below 3.5 mile marker.
Views from 3.5 mile marker.
Snow on rock just below junction with old trail.
Where old trail meets new trail it steepens. This is the area where people often have traction issues.
Below the rocks it was a little windy but not too bad. I continued up.
Teneriffe from below the rocks area.
Views from rocks area of Si.
Rainier from the Si rocks area.
Views from rocks area of Si.
Views from rocks area of Si.
Sign at Si rocks area.
Soon I reached the basin. By the sign it wasn't that deep but completely covered the ground.
Si basin. Not a lot of snow but consistent.
Si haystack from start of basin.
Looking across Si basin towards Haystack approach.
Looking towards benches from Si basin.
I parked over on the basin benches. My REI keychain thermometer said it was 28 which felt about right. Others arrived and stayed briefly. I stayed long enough to eat a sandwich etc then my hands were starting to get cold.
Views from Si basin bench.
Views from Si basin bench.
Views from Si basin bench.
Views from Si basin bench.
Olympics from Si basin bench.
Olympics from Si basin bench.
Downtown Seattle and Olympics from Si basin bench.
Towers on Rattlesnake from Si basin bench.
Downtown Bellevue from Si basin bench.
As my hands started to freeze I broke out some hand warmers and packed up to start heading down. It took a good half a mile even with hand warmers and mittens to warm up my hands.
Views from 3.5 mile marker on Si trail.
Views from 3.5 mile marker on Si trail.
I decided to take the talus loop back and look for the K falls turnoff that I missed last time.
The Creek at the start of the upper Talus loop.
Nice views from the talus field. A worthy alternative to the main trail.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
Mailbox Peak from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
McClellan Butte from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
Views from Talus area on Talus loop.
I continued down and kept looking back for the K-falls trail. It is only about 420 yards from the junction back on the main trail. There is a sign but for some unknown reason they put it high up on the tree so it isn't near eye level and easy to miss. At least I missed it last time I came up that way about a month ago. In retrospect though it really comes up fast past the junction from the main trail and I think last time when I was coming up I didn't really start looking until I had passed it..
K falls junction about 420 yards from lower Talus junction. Something for another day.
Trail to K falls.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. Not a ton of people coming up but some. The parking lot had cars in the first 3 sections whereas on arrival the 1st section wasn't even full yet.
Si parking lot at conclusion of hike.
If you go I recommend microspikes (or your traction aid of choice) especially for the last mile and a half. Makes it a piece of cake. I was practically jogging down on the icy sections. It seems even easier with the snow as you avoid any rocks or roots in the trail, you can just go as no problems with the microspikes gripping.
Beautiful pictures. Thank you for the great trail report. We always take the Talus Loop on our return, but never noticed the sign for falls. Is that the place where the side trail to the Teneriffe road comes in?
Beautiful pictures. Thank you for the great trail report. We always take the Talus Loop on our return, but never noticed the sign for falls. Is that the place where the side trail to the Teneriffe road comes in?
I have never followed this K-Falls route. I didn't even know it existed until they put up that sign. The way I knew to get to the Teneriffe road (and still exists) is at the east elbow of the Talus trail you keep going straight (east) down an old road, cross the creek, and kind of make way through some no brushy terrain for a few hundred feet and you are at the road at about 1600 feet. Total distance from the elbow maybe a tenth of a mile or so almost due east.
The now marked K-Falls trail I believe hooks in lower more with the road down by the new K-falls trail. I haven't followed it yet. It is on my short when I'm short on time or don't want a big effort to do list.
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