Mjollnir - Dec 14, 2008 9:18 pm Date Climbed: Sep 26, 2008
Fun
Fun scramble
Curtissimo - Dec 8, 2008 9:08 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 1995
been there done that
first time up the haystack. fun scramble not too hard. otherwise this is a pretty boring hike; good for winter conditioning.
cp0915 - Aug 3, 2008 7:27 pm Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2008
Standard
Busy, crowded hike up to the plateau area. Everyone, it seems, stays there, while few continue to the true summit. Reaching the base of the Haystack, DB and I headed straight up the steepish (class 4-5) terrain left of the standard scrambling route. Good exposure and a nice summit.
highlandvillager - Jul 30, 2008 2:48 am Date Climbed: Jul 28, 2008
Fun scramble and awesome view
We got a late start and debated ascending the haystack, but did it anyway knowing we would be hiking back in the dark. Despite some haze, we could see Seattle, Bellevue, Snoqualmie Valley, Mount Rainier, and many other mountains. Our cell phones made surprisingly good flashlights over the last half mile of trail in the dark.
Yeah! this is a cool little mountain. The hike up through the forest was wonderful with a few tremendous old growth trees around. I loved the Haystack Scramble! There were only marginal views because of clouds. Shooting for Glacier peak tomorrow!
WeatherMan - Jun 17, 2008 7:44 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2008
Solid hike with 1/2 of SEA
Caught a nice weather window, amidts one of the crappiest winter/spring's ever. Loved the Haystack scramble (sounds like a item on a Denny's menu, mmmm), and will likely be back to do this a few more times before the snow finally melts out from the more interesting summits.
I just hiked it yesterday and it was hard for me once we got past the 3rd mile marker because after the extremely steep part, the incline keeps going. I'm not use to that kind of steady incline, so it was rather difficult for me but I kept going. Totally worth it when we got to the top. Everybody seems to be complaining that there were too many people on this one. We did it on a weekday and we only passed maybe 10 people at the most, as well as a small field trip group of kids. Other than that, it was quiet. Despite the occasional cloud cover, the view was nice and I had a couple of gray jays eat out of my hand. The incline up makes it a lot easier to go down and it takes half the time to get down as it does to get up. Some snow cover up and mud and slush on the way down as it melted. The only irritating part was the constant slush and water drops falling from the trees. It often felt like somebody was hitting me with snowballs. My hair was soaked by the time we were less than halfway up to the top. Didn't do the haystack, I don't have enough experience with rock scrambling and I was too tired.
littlefrantz - Mar 8, 2008 11:24 pm Date Climbed: Apr 1, 1994
yahoo
:)
ecobiker - Mar 3, 2008 8:23 pm Date Climbed: Feb 28, 2008
Spring Condition
Spring hike up to get in shape for the climbing season. The trails have been cleared of all blow downs but there is still hard-packed snow at about 2700 feet to the top. Lots of melting ice/hard snow on the haystack. We were glad to have ice axes to chop steps, but didn't need crampons.
Mark Straub - Jan 31, 2008 9:01 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2007
Standard Route Overnight
Went with Josh Lewis, his older brother Michael, and his mom. We decided that a hike up Mt. Si. on Independence Day would be a great place to watch fireworks, but that doesn't work very well when you start at 7:45 P.M. and have 50 pound packs (That's over half my weight.) Spent the night at the base of the Haystack, which we climbed 3 times the next morning (We got kind of bored, and scrambling up that is really fun). I found out that going too far to the left of the standard way up the haystack is a bit scary with no ropes when you hit the vertical parts.
johnmnichols - Dec 27, 2007 9:27 am Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2005
Great nearby mountain
Used to do solo trail runs up this mountain in the evenings after work. No crowds when it's dark.
odogg0824 - Oct 28, 2007 1:15 am Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2007
Yup...also a first summit
This mountain gets a lot of chuckles from hardcore climbers but for newbies like me Mt Si is no joke. The elevation gain is close to 4000 feet which for a 4 mile trail is pretty steep. After 2-1/2 miles of switchbacks there is another mile and a half of...even steeper switchbacks. The top was rocky but offered nice scenery and there were several rocks that one could just lie down and snooze on (which I did for a bit). Mt Si is known for being crowded but we went on a weekday morning and didn't run into too many people although the top had quite a few visitors at any one time.
My wife and I longed for hiking poles on the way back down as our knees were jarred pretty good but all in all this was a great first summit experience. We can't wait to do it again soon.
Doehle - Sep 25, 2007 5:38 pm Date Climbed: Jun 10, 2007
Been in the area for a few months and FINALLY was able to make it out to Mt Si. Nice family hike, with a succesful climb of the haystack.
nasak - Aug 19, 2007 2:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2007
yeah yeah
Mt Si is the classic conditioning hike around here. I've been up Si a few times to train for other large Cascade peaks. After the first time, I've never been that excited about it. There are so many other amazing places to go ... It's also very populated -- The old trail is less populated, but I think that idea is catching on as I've seen more people on it lately.
The hike up is quick and fairly easy going. My wife and I were quite surprised at the steepness of the scramble at the end though. Still worth it to get to the top. Good views, and it was fun to watch an American Kestrel fly around beneath us.
Climbed most of the way with some friends, but skipped the rock scramble at the top because some of our group wasn't up to it. It took about two hours to make it to the base of the rock at a pretty leisurely pace.
I've been to the hiking top maybe a dozen times, but for some reason that scramble makes me nervous. Have attempted and backed off of it twice (started to rain once and there was snow on top the second). One of these days.
Mjollnir - Dec 14, 2008 9:18 pm Date Climbed: Sep 26, 2008
FunFun scramble
Curtissimo - Dec 8, 2008 9:08 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 1995
been there done thatfirst time up the haystack. fun scramble not too hard. otherwise this is a pretty boring hike; good for winter conditioning.
cp0915 - Aug 3, 2008 7:27 pm Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2008
StandardBusy, crowded hike up to the plateau area. Everyone, it seems, stays there, while few continue to the true summit. Reaching the base of the Haystack, DB and I headed straight up the steepish (class 4-5) terrain left of the standard scrambling route. Good exposure and a nice summit.
highlandvillager - Jul 30, 2008 2:48 am Date Climbed: Jul 28, 2008
Fun scramble and awesome viewWe got a late start and debated ascending the haystack, but did it anyway knowing we would be hiking back in the dark. Despite some haze, we could see Seattle, Bellevue, Snoqualmie Valley, Mount Rainier, and many other mountains. Our cell phones made surprisingly good flashlights over the last half mile of trail in the dark.
rasgoat - Jul 9, 2008 1:49 pm Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2008
my first Washington summit!Yeah! this is a cool little mountain. The hike up through the forest was wonderful with a few tremendous old growth trees around. I loved the Haystack Scramble! There were only marginal views because of clouds. Shooting for Glacier peak tomorrow!
WeatherMan - Jun 17, 2008 7:44 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2008
Solid hike with 1/2 of SEACaught a nice weather window, amidts one of the crappiest winter/spring's ever. Loved the Haystack scramble (sounds like a item on a Denny's menu, mmmm), and will likely be back to do this a few more times before the snow finally melts out from the more interesting summits.
BKW - Apr 4, 2008 6:55 pm Date Climbed: Apr 17, 2004
First dateThis was my first date with my now-wife. I hope I got the date right!
CascadeJess - Apr 2, 2008 5:05 pm Date Climbed: Apr 1, 2008
Worth the workoutI just hiked it yesterday and it was hard for me once we got past the 3rd mile marker because after the extremely steep part, the incline keeps going. I'm not use to that kind of steady incline, so it was rather difficult for me but I kept going. Totally worth it when we got to the top. Everybody seems to be complaining that there were too many people on this one. We did it on a weekday and we only passed maybe 10 people at the most, as well as a small field trip group of kids. Other than that, it was quiet. Despite the occasional cloud cover, the view was nice and I had a couple of gray jays eat out of my hand. The incline up makes it a lot easier to go down and it takes half the time to get down as it does to get up. Some snow cover up and mud and slush on the way down as it melted. The only irritating part was the constant slush and water drops falling from the trees. It often felt like somebody was hitting me with snowballs. My hair was soaked by the time we were less than halfway up to the top. Didn't do the haystack, I don't have enough experience with rock scrambling and I was too tired.
tleaf - Mar 11, 2008 5:46 pm
HmmmHmmm. This is it? Gotta do it in winter.
littlefrantz - Mar 8, 2008 11:24 pm Date Climbed: Apr 1, 1994
yahoo:)
ecobiker - Mar 3, 2008 8:23 pm Date Climbed: Feb 28, 2008
Spring ConditionSpring hike up to get in shape for the climbing season. The trails have been cleared of all blow downs but there is still hard-packed snow at about 2700 feet to the top. Lots of melting ice/hard snow on the haystack. We were glad to have ice axes to chop steps, but didn't need crampons.
Mark Straub - Jan 31, 2008 9:01 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2007
Standard Route OvernightWent with Josh Lewis, his older brother Michael, and his mom. We decided that a hike up Mt. Si. on Independence Day would be a great place to watch fireworks, but that doesn't work very well when you start at 7:45 P.M. and have 50 pound packs (That's over half my weight.) Spent the night at the base of the Haystack, which we climbed 3 times the next morning (We got kind of bored, and scrambling up that is really fun). I found out that going too far to the left of the standard way up the haystack is a bit scary with no ropes when you hit the vertical parts.
johnmnichols - Dec 27, 2007 9:27 am Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2005
Great nearby mountainUsed to do solo trail runs up this mountain in the evenings after work. No crowds when it's dark.
odogg0824 - Oct 28, 2007 1:15 am Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2007
Yup...also a first summitThis mountain gets a lot of chuckles from hardcore climbers but for newbies like me Mt Si is no joke. The elevation gain is close to 4000 feet which for a 4 mile trail is pretty steep. After 2-1/2 miles of switchbacks there is another mile and a half of...even steeper switchbacks. The top was rocky but offered nice scenery and there were several rocks that one could just lie down and snooze on (which I did for a bit). Mt Si is known for being crowded but we went on a weekday morning and didn't run into too many people although the top had quite a few visitors at any one time.
My wife and I longed for hiking poles on the way back down as our knees were jarred pretty good but all in all this was a great first summit experience. We can't wait to do it again soon.
Doehle - Sep 25, 2007 5:38 pm Date Climbed: Jun 10, 2007
So many peopleSo crowded, felt like a amusment park
cthomson - Sep 23, 2007 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Sep 23, 2007
finallyBeen in the area for a few months and FINALLY was able to make it out to Mt Si. Nice family hike, with a succesful climb of the haystack.
nasak - Aug 19, 2007 2:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2007
yeah yeahMt Si is the classic conditioning hike around here. I've been up Si a few times to train for other large Cascade peaks. After the first time, I've never been that excited about it. There are so many other amazing places to go ... It's also very populated -- The old trail is less populated, but I think that idea is catching on as I've seen more people on it lately.
bmwboarder7 - Jul 29, 2007 8:49 pm Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2007
SurprisedThe hike up is quick and fairly easy going. My wife and I were quite surprised at the steepness of the scramble at the end though. Still worth it to get to the top. Good views, and it was fun to watch an American Kestrel fly around beneath us.
Bruce Christensen - May 28, 2007 2:14 pm Date Climbed: May 29, 2006
Mostly thereClimbed most of the way with some friends, but skipped the rock scramble at the top because some of our group wasn't up to it. It took about two hours to make it to the base of the rock at a pretty leisurely pace.
Krylon - May 24, 2007 6:22 pm
Familiar FriendI've been to the hiking top maybe a dozen times, but for some reason that scramble makes me nervous. Have attempted and backed off of it twice (started to rain once and there was snow on top the second). One of these days.