[MountainMan]

Yes this is my first time up Si. I've been back into hiking for about eight months now, but since BC has done Si several times and we always go new places, I've never been up there. I haven't done much Solo hiking either, so this is also my first major solo hike. Part of what inspired this trip was reading the Solo thread. Also, I've realized for awhile now that I'll probably have to go out on my own, if I ever want to go to all these places that she and others I hike with have already been. It's been kind of scary for me for some reason, not sure why, I used to go out in the woods alone all the time when I was a kid. After such a beautiful day on Thursday, I decided I'm going out Friday while the weather is still good. I've wanted to knock off Si for quite awhile now. I've also been intrigued by Dixie, so I figured if I'm feeling okay and have time I'll continue on and do that too. Here's the topo for my trip:

Si and Dixie

Distance: About 12mi RT. Elevation gain: about 4000' The weather Friday was almost as nice as Thursday, just as the forecast had predicted. I got kind of a late start. It was just after 10 a.m. when I started up the trail. There were maybe 10 cars in the parking lot when I got there. I didn't see many people all day, I guess since it was a weekday. I kept waiting for it to get steep, like the book said, but it just continued at the same gentle grade the whole way.

Start of Mt Si trail.

Si trail

View at 3.5 mi.

I reached the Haystack Basin just after noon, took a few pics, then headed up to look at the Haystack.

Mt Rainier from Haystack Basin.

View from Haystack Basin.

Looking up at Haystack.

A couple of people had gone up part way, so I followed their tracks then continued after they turned around. The snow was relatively firm and made for easy kick stepping. I'm not sure about the normal route. It looked way too slippery to go to the top, but I was able to reach the ridge just to the north of the Haystack, took several pics and went back down.

Haystack from ridge.

Looking south from Haystack ridge.

North Bend from Si.

Looking down

I was feeling fine and had time, so I decided to go for Dixie. Fortunately, several people had broken the trail in the direction I wanted to go.

Snowshoe path following the road leading from Si.

Mt. Si.

View to the west.

Mt Rainier

Views from the ridge above Si.

Views from the ridge above Si.

I followed the track up the road for about a mile until that ended. Then I was on my own. Checking the GPS, I could see I was close to the ridge leading to Dixie, so I worked my way through some trees until I found the ridge. It was a narrower in places than I expected from looking at the topo, but I was able to walk right along the top most of the way.

Narrow section of the ridge.

I could see a couple of hills in the distance. I wasn't sure which was Dixie, but I knew from the map I just had to follow the ridge, so I stuck to it like glue. Pretty soon I got into some trees. It was easy going, but I couldn't see anything of my destination or what lay ahead. I was kind of worried because it was after two o'clock which seemed late to be still headed out, but I reminded myself that I had more daylight now. I momentarily considered turning around, but looking at the GPS I could see I had less than half a mile to go, so I continued on.

Heading through the trees along the ridge to Dixie.

Eventually, I came out of the trees as the ridge narrowed again and sloped up more steeply. I could see west all the way to the Olympics, but I still couldn't see anything ahead. I came over a rise, saw a small hill ahead and thought that's the summit, but no, just a false summit.

Coming out of the trees and starting up the last part of the ridge towards Dixie.

Ridge leading to Dixie.

A little further on I finally got a glimpse of Dixie. Not far now.

Top of Dixie peaking through the trees.

I had to negotiate a short steep section and work my way through some close tree wells (all the while thinking of Iron's warning of falling into tree wells). After that it was a short few minutes to the top.

Almost to the top.

Looking back down the ridge to the south.

It's a very nice little summit with views almost all the way around. I couldn't see the lakes from the top but I was able to see crater lake later from a little south of the summit. I took a bunch of pics, had a quick snack and headed back down at about 3 p.m.

Mt Rainier from Dixie.

Mt Rainier from Dixie.

The Summit.

Looking south from Dixie.

Views from the top of Dixie.

Views from the top of Dixie.

Views from the top of Dixie.

Views from the top of Dixie.

Views from the top of Dixie.

Looking down to NE.

Rachor Lake should be down there somewhere.

Looking down to the West.

Me on the summit.

Looking West from the summit.

Crater Lake from the ridge to the south of Dixie.

On the way back I tried to keep my speed up despite being tired because it was getting late and I was hoping to make dinner for a certain someone.

My tracks through the trees along the ridge.

My tracks along the ridge.

Looking back at Dixie.

Mt Teneriffe.

Back to the road and multiple showshoe tracks.

Mt Rainier

I reached the Haystack basin by 4:15, took off the snowshoes and watched as a spandex clad jogger took off down the trail. I thought, if he can do it so can I. So I packed everything away tight and started off down the trail. My spikes provided good traction in the packed snow and I was able to jog the flatter straight sections and walk the other parts, making it down by about 5:25 p.m. I called BC. My timing was good. She was just finishing up at work. I got to her place a little after 6 p.m. and made us a nice chicken curry dinner. Then we planned the next days hike, finally settling on two options near Yakima in an attempt to avoid the nasty weather (which was successful) and also to find a new place to go that didn't have road closures. One more thing. Thank you EastKing for your encouragement the other day.

[Ingunn]

Congratulations on your first solo hike!

[Kat]

Nice TR, great route details with the photos -thanks. And also congrats on the solo

[Bloated Chipmunk]

what they said. Though I've hiked Si several times I've never done Dixie, so you're a step ahead of me there.

[tigermn]

Yea finishing this up is on my short list. I was debating on whether to approach from Si or the Teneriffe road slog. This was the best "route report" I have seen to date on this, showing things more along the way. The furthest I went a while back was to the spot where you have to lose a little elevation. I gather the previous tracks from others were washed away/covered by all the recent snow. Did the next peak beyond "Dixie" look worth visiting? It appears to be about .2 miles from Dixie and maybe 50-60 feet lower.

[MountainMan]

[Magellan]

Good on ya for getting in your first solo. A worthy TR indeed!

[EastKing]

[Obi Tony Kenobi]

Cool trip report, I have never been up to Mt Si, I guess it's because it's so "peoplelized" for a lack of a better word. One of these days I'll go up there. Love the pic of Crater Lake. Can you see Rachor Lake by any chance? Congrats on your first Solo!

[Redwic]

I agree with EastKing. He & I did this peak together two weeks ago. The views from the northern false summit of Dixie Peak are MUCH more spectacular and far-ranging than from the true summit. A must do!!! The false summit has no tree-cover... You just have to pass by some trees immediately after the true summit, descend a little, and then ascend a little to a rocky false summit. Again, HIGHLY recommended to visit the false summit.

[Redwic]

[Yet]

Nice job, MountainMan.

[tigermn]

[MountainMan]

[gone]

Well done! And a great report, with lots of details and pics to pour over!