Mount Teneriffe — Saturday, Jan. 12, 2002

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

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.