Rattlesnake Mountain

View from Stan's Overlook

Distance: 12 Miles Out and Back
Elevation Gain: 2520 Ft

Trail distance chart and rules

In a typical Pacific Northwest winter weekend with gloomy overcast sky, I decided that I could do with some useful exercise by hiking a nearby trail. I also wanted to do a new trail. I had already done Rattlesnake Ledge near the Rattlesnake Lake before, though I have not written on this blog about that trip. However, the ridge line of the Rattlesnake Mountain runs roughly parallel to the I-90 highway, and it is possible to traverse the whole mountain between Snoqualmie (I-90 Exit Number 27) and Rattlesnake Lake (I-90 Exit Number 32). So I got started at the Snoqualmie trail head and headed east.

The starting part of the trail is on a forest road

For a shorter hike, Stan's Overlook at 2.2 miles would be a perfect destination. There are a couple of picnic table and a gorgeous view of several mountains including Mt. Si and Mt Teneriffe with a panoramic view of the quiet townships of North Bend at the foot of Mt Si and Fall City closer to the West. I met a few other hikers at that point, some of whom really enjoyed a picnic there. However, I decided to press on forward.

Stan's Overlook

Windy's Landing is another point offering views but dense fog prevented me from enjoying those views what would be at its most appealing on a sunny day. Rest of the trail was uneventful except for encountering patches of snow on ground near the East Peak. Yet at the East Peak, I had the novel experience of watching Steller’s Jays eating out of hands of another couple of hikers.

Steller’s Jay bird eating out of hand

That is where I turned around for the return trip. This trail being gradient being comparatively gentle, I committed the mistake of moving too fast through most of my return trip, even running at times. With the heavy hiking boots on, it took a heavy toll on my leg muscles around knees. As a result, I was not in a position to run - my other fitness gig - for next several months. Another lesson learned, the hard way of course.

Area Map on the Trail Head Information Board

Mt Si in the Winter

Saturday, February 14, 2010
Cumulative Elevation gain 3700 ft

I am a bit wary of going off alone on any hiking trail during the winter season when the snowy reaches of the trails can sometimes be very treacherous. But I have found a dependable company in David who is a veteran of hiking: in pacific northwest and away, to peaks and lakes, during summer and winter. So off we go again - this time on another trip to Mt Si - in the winter. The trail description is not much different from the summer trips, except for the freezing temperature at the summit. And you really would not want to try to climb the Haystack scramble because the rocks get slippery in the icy conditions. In fact, someone fell and killed himself while climbing Haystack in adverse weather a couple of years ago. So we made it to the base of that scramble, had our snack lunch and returned. The new thing for me on this trip was watching the Camp Robber bird eating out of people's hand. Never the less, the trip was a nice workout helping us to stay in shape.

More Pictures

Iron Horse State Park - John Wayne Trail

Sunday, August 16th, 2009
Cumulative Elevation gain about 300 ft
Trail length covered : 4.5 miles one way

Time taken: 1hr 30 minutes s on way up and 1 hr 40 on way down.
Level of difficulty: Easy

This is a trail on an old railroad grade that used to stretch from Seattle to Chicago. The railway tracks are not there any more and the grade was converted into a gravel pathway in the 1980s. The section between Cedar Falls Close to North Bend on the West side of the Snoqualmie Pass and Vantage near Columbia River to the East of the Pass has since been maintained by the Washington State Parks and named it as John Wayne Trail. The surroundings of the trail is named the Iron Horse Park. It is nice family hiking trail with gentle slope and minimal physical efforts involved.

I and my friend accessed the trail at its starting point located about 3 miles south of exit 32 of the I-90 interstate highway. Its a gently sloping trail with the mountain wall on the south and excellent views on the other. The Rattlesnake Mountain and the Rattlesnake Ledge are visible from near the start of the trail. There is also a nice view of the Little Si and the Big Si together. This view provides a very good idea about the efforts and difficulty associated with the hiking the Big Si compared to that with the Little Si. There were quite a number of bicyclists on the trail. There was even one man riding a battery powered two-wheeler vehicle. Is a motorized vehicle allowed on this trail? I am not sure. However, we soon saw him coming back, but not riding his motorbike but pushing it!

As we walked, the trail moved closer to the Highway. At some point we passed the Twin Falls State Park on our left. At about 4.5 miles, pretty close to the Olallie State Park, we turned around. If we went on for another 16 miles, we would be walking into the 2-miles long Snoqualmie Tunnel. Well, I plan to return to this trail some other day to hike through that tunnel!

More pictures
More information on John Wayne Trail

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.