Elain on the summit
Elain and I were packed and ready to leave for an attempt of Guye Peak on Sunday February 1st. I awoke at 4:00 AM and checked the NWS telemetry data for Snoqualmie Pass. Overnight, 7" of new snow had fallen at Alpental, on top of 15-20" of snow that had fallen during the previous two days. We reluctantly decided to change our plans, and go somewhere away from the Cascade crest, to avoid the avalanche hazard. We had heard that the Haystack Gully on Mount Si can be a pleasant winter scramble, so we decided to head up there and check it out. Rather than re-pack for our much-diminished objective, I just threw our heavy packs in the Jeep, figuring it would be good exercise carrying a bunch of gear up 3000' of elevation gain.
It was still dark when we pulled into the parking lot. There was a large organized group sorting gear. We heard some person shouting "OK, I'm going to call roll. The clock will start at the same time for everyone, regardless of whether you are ready or not." We wondered what kind of outing it was, perhaps a race of some sort?
We shouldered our packs and started walking up the trail by headlamp. The first mile was quite muddy, and it was raining. About a mile from the summit, the trail became hard-packed snow. By the time we reached the base of the Haystack, we were all by ourselves. To our disappointment, the Haystack gully looked like it had just a minimal dusting of new snow; enough to obscure footholds, but nowhere near enough to kick steps. It wasn't obvious if crampons would help at all. We decided it would be good practice to wear the crampons anyhow, while scrambling up the gully. We decided to take the rightmost gully, which appeared to be the more "sporting" line. About 35m of climbing got me to a belay on a little ledge with my legs straddling a tree. Elain soon joined me, and I led the next 20m up to a tree belay just a few feet below the North Ridge. We scrambled along the North Ridge for about 15m, to a notch at the head of the "left gully". From there, it was just 10m of easy scrambling to the top of the summit bulge.
It was cold on the summit, but not windy. We down-climbed from the summit to the notch. I set up a rappel using a tree on the far side of the notch. One double-rope rappel down the "left" gully (climber's left) got us almost to the base of the Haystack. Unfortunately, having affixed the rappel rope to a tree on the far side of the ridge, meant there was a lot of rope drag. Pulling the ropes was a real chore. The scene that followed was a humorous contrast in climbing styles. While Elain was rappelling down, a solo climber started up the gully. He made excellent time, reaching the summit while we were pulling the rope. We figured it would take him a while to down-climb the gully. A moment later I saw a cloud of spindrift, and out of it emerged the climber, sliding down the gully on his butt, sounding a bit sketched out. He called out "Um... I'm not sure if I can stop." With such minimal snow cover, it must have been painful. He made it down to the base of the Haystack while I was coiling the rope. We put our gear away, and headed down. Both of us had sore feet on the hike out... apparently we have grown "soft" in the off-season.
All in all, it was an OK winter outing, and a good conditioning hike. However, it would be more fun if there was more snow and ice in the Haystack gully.
Gear we used: 50m rope (used a double-rope rappel); ice axe; crampons.
Elain on the summit
Steve on the summit, carrying way too much gear
Steve at the base of the Haystack gully
the summit pyramid of Mount Si