Mt Si 2.28.15
I was studying for my final exam but wanted to get out for a quick hike to enjoy the great weather. I was looking at something along I-90, maybe Tiger Mountain, but Matt had somehow never hiked the normal trail up Mt Si so we decided to head there. We left about 7:30am and found a parking spot a few rows back from the trailhead. When we left the trailhead was overflowing with cars, so we were glad for the earlier start. There weren't too many people on the trail when we started, although we ran into Jeff as he was doing a couple of laps up the mountain.
[Left] The Haystack on the top of Mt Si. [Right] Scramble up the Haystack
The hike up was pretty uneventful, we took a break just before the top at the break in the trees so I could grab some food for our final push up. Here the traffic picked up as we climbed the last little section to the top of Mt Si. There were lots of people lounging on the rocks in the sun but we rushed past on our way to the Haystack, our objective for the day. We followed the trail over and got to the base without any groups above us. We found our way up the rocks and waited before the final section to the top as some other hikers came down from the summit.
Sara coming down off of the very top of the Haystack, before entering the gully
The views from the summit were incredible, clear in every direction. We could see Bellevue and Seattle, below the seemingly floating Olympic Mountains. We spotted the volcanoes around us, Mount Rainier to the south, Mount Baker and Glacier to the north. It was a great day to spend in the mountains but the wind was cold and my hands were freezing so after we soaked up the sunshine and views, we headed back down.
Summit view to the south
Summit view to the north
[Left] Group summit shot, the Mitchell brothers summit Mt Si for the first time. [Right] Summit view to the west of the cities and Olympics
The trail was very busy on the way down. We took one break so I could rest my knees a bit, and then pushed to the car. Good exercise and great weather, another successful day in the mountains.
GPS track can be found here
Trail at the top up the Haystack