TNAB Trip report for Teneriffe Peak

Date: May 20th, 2004
Hike: Teneriffe Peak
Route:
Attendees: 11 souls!.
Comments: Sweet hike, no views (fog)

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Photo Credits: Tom

Mark's Hike Summary: Hello, TNAB'ers:

The last "official" TNAB event before the Memorial Day weekend was Teneriffe, AKA Mt Si's bigger, meaner sibling. It was also decided that it was high time to place a geocache on Teneriffe, and see if anyone had the guts to find it!

Once we arrived at the start (a little over a mile past the main Mt Si parking lot), it was clear that we had a turnout of ten. Dan and Larry had arrived early to get a jump on the main group. Chris, Russ, Maren and I made up the "Eastgate" carpool, while Mike, Alicia, Jeff and Tom arrived via Issaquah. At 5:55 PM, we set off under cloudy skies that would not clear.

The first thing we noticed was the signage prior to the gate on the logging road, declaring "This Is not a Trail". OK, that's new. Twenty minutes later, the Teneriffe experience began in earnest - conditions were damp, steep and slick. Route finding skills were put to the test a least a couple times before we reached the ridge.

At around 7:15 PM, Dan calls me to find out "where we are". He and Larry are on top, chilling out. As it would happen, the rest of us wouldn't arrive for another 45 minutes. At least two or three of us (myself included) opted for the scramble route rather than stick to the trail.

Once atop, visibility was poor - no views today. I proceeded to produce the beginnings of our new geocache, with its few items (Dan should have a complete list of items and link to the geocache website later this week). Despite the chill, we milled about for over twenty minutes on top, with nearly everyone agreeing that Teneriffe is worse than Mailbox. Fortunately, Teneriffe is as "bad" as it gets for TNAB (IMHO).

Weeks of psychological conditioning paid off as we decided to decend the same way we came up, thus avoiding the long slog of a logging road option. But just as we were getting ready to leave, a voice cried out from below. Who else would be crazy enough to be on this sick hill? Minutes later, we had our answer: Don! He had been held up at work until 5:30 PM and made monster time to get out and join us. Talk about dedication!

Don didn't get to rest long as we moved out soon after he arrived. With the low clouds, damp conditions and steep terrain, it was not an easy descent. Many slips and slides ensued. As we got close to exiting back to the logging road, Mike suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, what's this?" His headlamp had picked up an object foreign to the woods - the "Kamakazi Fallls" geocache! From it, Maren claimed the T-Mobile bicycle hat, and Don replaced it with a map of our Mt Washington geocache.

For the record, Maren had walked away from Teneriffe, in consecutive years, with an ice axe and now the hat. Let's hope she makes it back next year - who know what she'll find then!

***This week, it the Memorial Day Hike Holiday! However, several of us will be visiting Mailbox again on Thursday - regular meeting time etc. Join us!

Next week (6/3/04): Silver Peak - definitely not for the faint of heart, or the talus adverse. Another TNAB classic!

-Mark