To Mount Si Again

Date of Hiking: Saturday, August 23, 2008
Distance: 4+ miles one way
Time taken: 5 hrs to the top of the haystack and back to the trail head



The main reason I am back again within a few weeks from my last trip to Mt.Si is to complete what was left incomplete the last time. I did not make it all the way to the top of the "Haystack Rock Scramble" that time. Contrary to my earlier assertion, I was there alone again for lack of anyone to accompany me - yet driven by an unsurmountable desire to scale the top of the mountain. The other reason is to check out an alternate route.

This time around, I started from the trail head for the Little Si. The Little Si is another hiking destination, a much easier option, more about which will be the subject of another post.

The direction at the fork where the link trail for the Big Si starts is either not officially marked or the mark is removed as a result of vandalism. But behind the plate that shows the route to Little Si, a fellow hiker must have scratched an arrow towards the other trail marking it as the route to Big Si.

Beyond this point, the unrelenting ascending trail climbs a steep hill face of about 60 to 70 degrees starting with long segments of switch-backs. However, at about the two-third point, the trail abandons the the steep hill face and embraces the a ridge line, where the switch-backs give way to a twisting trail that continues to ascend incessantly. This link trail is very less frequented compared to the main trail. I encounters only a three of people on my way up and three other on the return trip - a good option if you are looking for some solitude. But expect to get stung by a bee or two as had happened to me and a fellow hiker whom I met on my way back.

Beyond the top of the Big Si lies another the peak named the Haystack Rock Scramble. The most exciting part of this trip for me was the climbing up the haystack rock scramble on all four. And as you might expect, the view from up there is breathtaking and worth all the hard work getting to the top of the Big Si itself. Please checkout the slide show of a few pictures which were taken with my small Olympus camera.

A trip to Mount Si

It was a partially overcast pacific northwest summer day. The temperature was in the mid 70s. I had hardly a six-hour window to drive to the trail-head and be back for an appointment. I decided to go ahead anyway - a fact that I regretted later.

The four mile hike to the bottom of the haystack (the clump of rocks that you can see from far away) demands relentless climbing through switch backed trails except for a short stretch that is also a point of special interest. It is a 350 year old Douglas tree that survived the great fire in the 19th century. I completed the climbing in an hour and fifty minutes, which according to my colleague who is a veteran climber, was a bit too fast. I too realized it when a 20 minutes break was not enough to explore haystack any further. I would have needed another 20 minutes of rest before climbing to the top to see the North Bend town below. Since I was short on time, I decided that I would need to come back another day to do it.

On a side note, I met this girl on my way up, who was there walking the trail searching her soul, after her boyfriend had asked her to move out of her parent's home. We talked as we walked together for a few minutes. She is a college student aspiring for a teaching career and working for it carrying with her several grands of student loan. She is currently living with her parents so she does not have to pay rent. She is a devoted Christian too, who has vowed in an early age to practice abstinence before marriage and is now apprehensive of the fact that if she moved out, at some point her boyfriend would want to move in with her. The dilemma between her principles, finance and maintaining a relationship was all too evident. I moved on after suggesting she might find happiness by following what might make most sense from the point of view of her avowed principle as well as financial stability.

Back to the hiking - I returned with the conclusion that I must return with a companion, which will make the tedious four mile hike feel easier, and allowing sufficient time to climb the haystack all the way to the top.