Mt. Si Talus Loop Trail

10 February 2011


Carpe diem! Sunny skies but cold air as we climbed the Mt. Si trail once again to Snag Flats (1.8 mi from the trailhead) passing the lower end of the Loop at 0.8 mi.

The Talus Loop was a much more pleasant trail, first contouring through a deep, forested drainage and then breaking out into the bright sun of a south-facing talus slope. The trail had been nicely defined across the talus, and a dry-laid stone wall placed on the uphill side. In the wall a space had been left for a bench alcove complete with backrest. It was a great spot to stop for lunch.


Moving on, the trail descended gradually through moss-covered trees then began a couple of switchbacks. At the east end of the second one, when it appeared we were following a very old skid road, we continued east, crossed a stream and in less than ten minutes reached the Mt. Si road. We could have followed it down to the trailhead at the schoolbus turnaround, but that would have meant a long walk on the paved road back to the Mt Si parking lot. We returned to the Talus Loop trail and continued down maybe another half mile to the intersection with the Mt. Si trail again. It was nicer to walk down in the sunshine, rather than the gloom of almost-dark we had experienced last week.

Lots of folks on the Mt. Si trail today, all of them passing us. However, we saw only one person on the Talus Loop trail.