I headed out fairly early and reached the Mt. Teneriffe Road by 8:10. It was lightly snowing, much better than the rain of the last few days. The road was snow free for the first mile and only a small amount covered it up to about 2100'. When I started postholing to my knee it was time to put on the snowshoes. The snow was well settled and trailbreaking was fairly easy. It was nice to see the unmarked snow with 3""-5"" fresh on top. I was resigned to having to break trail all the way to the top or at least as far as my legs would carry me. When I reached the Si junction I was very surprised to see two fresh sets of snowshoe tracks heading towards Teneriffe. The nicely compacted trail allowed me to speed up. At the top of the first steep stretch I caught up with Myron. He led a Mountaineer trip over Si to Teneriffe I took about 7 years ago. I had not seen him since. It's amazing who you run into on the trail. A short time later I caught up with the trailbreaker and gave him a break. Dieter was climbing Teneriffe for the first time in 31 years. I hope I am still out in the Winter when I'm his age. It was interesting to be eye to eye with the cabin near the pass. It is quite a ways above the road. I would guess the snow is about 8-10 feet deep at that point. From the pass to the summit was a very nice scramble. The last climb to the summit was steep. Fortunately, there is fresh snow over the ice or I would have turned back. The summit had no wind at all. The sun was going in and out of the clouds. When it was out it was very pleasant though only in the upper 20's. 3:55 from the car to the summit. I just missed my 12:00 target. A very enjoyable trip up. It was so nice I spent an hour on top. As I was leaving three more hikers were nearing the summit. All together six of us reached the summit today. The trip down was a long slog. Totals were nearly 14 miles and about 4500' gained. 6 miles without and 8 miles with snowshoes. 2:55 coming down. Clouds on the way up to keep me cool and mostly sunny on the way down. I hope for at least one terrific snowshoe trip each Winter and this one qualified.

Due to icy highways we decided on a late start for Mt Tenerife. To get to Tenerife one drives 1 mi past the Mt Si trailhead, to a bus turnout/parking area on Left and were ""private"" road begins. Started hiking at 10:45am w/a little snow on road. A couple miles up, at 2800 ft we put on the snowshoes. Hiked thru 12-24"" of new snow. The intent was to go to Tenerife, but met up w/another local, went straight when we should of gone right at one of the switchbacks, so ended up ""higher"" on a ridge road which the ""local"" person call Snag Peak. Made it to 4700 ft summit where fresh snow was 2ft deep. Very beautiful, on top the trees were plastered hard w/snow. They made awesome figures. Theres a ""cool"" snag tree standing on this summit, about 30 ft tall. If you used your imagination it remined me of a miniture ""space needle"". 3hr45min up 5 mi, down 2hr. It would of been another 1mi to saddle of Tenerife, where one turns off the road for the summit ridge. We had some sunshine and awesome views of Mt Si and surrounding peaks. One tree down, many trees were weighted down, bent over, covering the road.

Figuring on a long day, we (two humans, two leashed dogs) were on the trail by 9:30. There was only one other car at the trailhead so already we felt better than if we were hiking Si. The snow was spotty for the first two or three miles, but by the time we were huffing up the switchbacks it was uniform over the trail about two inches deep. Before we got to the top of the switchbacks we ran into the other party (four humans, two dogs) on its way down. They turned back when the snow was too deep for them. We didn't see anyone else until we were on the way back down. At the knob above the clearcut there was four inches of new snow over several feet of crusty snow. The dogs didn't break through, but on occasion we did. We had one set of snowshoes which we switched back and forth for a bit to break trail, but it didn't prove to be that much of a help. We reached the saddle at about 1:30, but the views were completely hidden by clouds. We were short on time and had trouble finding the trail to the summit so we called it a day and headed back. We saw a couple groups of casual hikers/walkers below the snow level, but no one seriously heading up high.

Memorial Day weekend (Saturday) and there were only three or four other people on the trail! The first mile or so is fairly flat, but then the fun starts. The road is in good shape most of the way, but is rocky in places. It is pretty open once you start to climb and sun screen is a good idea. There are plenty of great views on the way up. The gentleman who owns the cabin just off the road near where the trail breaks off has tied engineer's tape from the road up to the ridgeline. His directions were very helpful. The trail to the top starts to the right, just before you go through the notch. Follow the ridgeline to the top. The views were great! I could see Mt. Baker to the North. Most of the snow is gone, with just a few patches left. Be careful on the way back down to the road, stay high on the ridgeline. I went too low and nearly missed the road!

Awoke in North Bend at 8am to see the previous days weather was no longer with us. The hike must go on. Met my partner at the trailhead and we set out, briskly tackling the steep miles of switchbacks ahead of us. Ughhh... No breakfast and only two hours of sleep intensified this workout. Upon cresting the road, we donned gaitors and started slogging through the somewhat supportive, patchy snow that covered the road. Stopped at the cabin and had lunch.... Or breakfast for me. Soon after, we came to the road end, overlooking frozen Ranchor Lake. From here, the trail follows the ridge all the way to the summit. Although icy, the going was easy, with the ""hardest"" part being the final stretch to the summit. The views down from the summit were limited to about 50', but it was still an enjoyable summit experience. The way down was quick, and of course after getting almost a mile away from the summit, things started to clear up all around. Oh well, veiws were still great from there on out. I brought an ice ax and snowshoes, but neither were necessary on this day. Poles were pretty helpful though once on snow. Saw only 5 people all day. Two of which went to Mt Si. I assume the 3rd and 4th did also. The 5th was a mtn biker that didn't make it too far before returning and passing us. Gotta get back in summer and enjoy the views.