Mt Si via North's Road and old Si trail (semi-experimental!)

The North's Road exploration posted for last weekend was too long and started too early -- this one is shorter and starts later. ;-)

On hikes earlier this year, we saw that the North's Road trail, where it joins the old Si trail, and where it joins the Douglas Fir trail, appear to be in active use. It is a social trail, i.e. unofficial and not maintained, but so were many trails that later were adopted. (On a recent hike, we took a former social trail that now appears on the King County Parks map of Cougar, and has a name and a sign at the junction. We used to take a social trail that joined the Teneriffe Falls trail to the new Teneriffe trail -- now it's not only official, but has a nice new bridge.)

So, let's go see what North's Road is like.

We'll take the Trailhead Direct Mt Si bus to its Little Si stop. We'll start up the Little Si trail, turn on the lower Boulder Garden trail, then turn east on the Douglas Fir trail. Then we'll go up North's Road til it joins the old Si trail. This skips about the first third of the old Si trail -- we still get to go up the remaining two-thirds of the old Si trail, which is where some of the more "interesting" parts are. We can continue up to our favorite viewpoint on Mt Si (a rock pile south of the Haystack with a great view toward Mt Rainier if the sky is clear), or we can, depending on time and what the group wants, turn around before that. We can stop for lunch at any point -- there are some nice shady spots along the old Si trail. The viewpoint is in full sun, but one can retreat into shade nearby. We can retrace our path on the way down, which will let us evaluate North's Road both up and down. We won't hurry, as there are bits of the old Si trail that merit caution going downhill (e.g. there is that one place where the "trail" is a ladder of tree roots...).

If we go to the viewpoint, this is 7 miles, 3500 ft elevation gain. If we turn around at the root ladder (which is a good lunch spot), it is (if I'm right about where the root ladder is) about 6 miles, 2700 ft elevation gain. We don't have to hurry. (I'm assuming 1.5 mph on the "normal" trails, but 1 mph on the old Si trail.)

What I'm hoping we can do is evaluate the condition of North's Road, and the old Si trail, with the goal of updating the various trail condition tags on OpenStreetMap (OSM). For instance, there is "trail_visibility" (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:trail_visibility), that tells how easy it is to follow the trail -- is it easy to see where the trail is, without advanced route-finding skills? There is "sac_scale" (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:sac_scale). SAC is Swiss Alpine Club -- this their rating system for trail difficulty, ranging from accessible strolling up to advanced climbing skills and gear needed. I would very much like to have other folks' opinions on these.

We can also, I hope, get some images of North's Road, and of any "interesting" bits of the old Si trail. If anyone knows how to capture those four direction Street View images for Google Maps, it would be great to add some more of those -- the only current images for the upper part of the old Si trail are in winter, covered by snow, and parts have no images. In particular, there is no image of the root ladder, which really needs some publicity. ;-) (I almost went the wrong way there, thinking, surely this is not the trail... And maybe it isn't, because I saw other folks looking around, below it. It would be good to verify this.)

One other thing it would be good to determine is whether any of North's Road survives *north* of the old Si trail. OSM shows it continuing there. I didn't see any sign of a path, but only got a very brief look.

One last "public service" we might undertake is reporting to Google Maps that their trails in the Mt Si area are Just Wrong. They show the old Si trail rejoining the new trail at a point where the two come within sight of each other, but not at the actual junction, where the official signpost is, about half a mile further north. And, they don't know about the Douglas Fir trail, which (very conveniently) connects through to the new Si trail -- they have what might be an older trail that they call the Timber Trail, which seems to be part of the Douglas Fir trail and North's Road.

North's Road on OSM: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/162160266

Trailhead Direct Mt Si: https://trailheaddirect.org/mount-si/

Folks returning to Cap Hill at the end might want to consider getting dinner at Anapurna Cafe (Nepalese, Tibetan, Indian) -- one of our favorites: https://annapurnacafe.com/

Logistics

The event start and end times at the Capitol Hill bus stops for Trailhead Direct, so your actual start and end time may differ. The end time depends on where we turn around, and how leisurely our pace is. ;-)

Right now, the weather forecasts predict a warm day, getting up to the low 80s deg F in the afternoon. We hope to be done with the uphill part of the hike while it is still cooler. Most of the route is under trees -- just a little at the beginning, and at the "viewpoint", is exposed.

Bring lunch, snacks, lots of water -- 2-3 liters recommended -- and electrolytes. There is a pit toilet at the trailhead, but no water.

Boots or hiking shoes with good traction are needed, and trekking poles are recommended, especially for downhill.

Bus riders: If you are coming from Seattle: The event's official meeting point is just outside the west entrance to the Capitol Hill link station. There are now several earlier stops, and a few in downtown. If you are on the Eastside: There is no stop in Eastgate any more. Instead, there is a stop at the South Bellevue Link #2 station -- the bus gets there at 9:03am, but be there about 5 min early. There is no stop in Issaquah.

Drivers: Do not, repeat, NOT, attempt to park at the Little Si trailhead. It is very popular, and fills up early. There are always cars lined up waiting for a spot. The last point where you can be sure of getting a place to park is at the North Bend Park & Ride. The bus gets there at 9:29am. There is no parking lot at the Capitol Hill station. If you are coming from Seattle, try taking the bus or Link to Capitol Hill. On the Eastside, the South Bellevue station has parking. The bus gets there at 9:03am. For either South Bellevue station or North Bend Park & Ride, be at the stop 5 min before the bus's scheduled time.

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