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Mount Si is located in North Bend,
Washington (USA).
The Climb: 4,167
feet (1,270 meters)
Distance: 4 miles from the parking lot to the summit plateau.
Vertical elevation change is about 3700 feet and starts at about
700 feet. The route meanders through several different ecosystems
as temperatures and average rainfall vary with elevation.
The hike begins at the Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation
Area parking lot. It climbs from a low-elevation conifer forest to
the vestiges of an old burn, now becoming a new forest of firs.
The fire dates back to 1910 when Mount Si burned for weeks.
At 1,600 feet (about a mile) you come to an obvious stopping
place, a rocky area with a view to the valley and Interstate 90.
Another obvious rest stop is reached at about 1,750 feet with
benches. Snag Flats is reached in another 3/4 mile at about 2,100
feet, the only level section of trail you'll encounter. Just
before Snag Flats, a short path descends to a stream, a cool place
to rest on a hot day. It is about 2 1/2 more miles to Haystack
Basin at about 3,900 feet (four miles total).
There are plenty of good rocky perches and benches below the
Haystack. From the base of the Haystack there are views more than
3,000 feet straight down to the valley and I-90, as well as out to
the Olympic Mountains and Seattle. The Haystack is a short
scramble from there, and is moderate class 2/3. In the winter it
can be a good mixed/ice climb. |