Mount Si (pronounced ), known as q'əlpc' to the

Snoqualmie people The Snoqualmie people (Lushootseed: ''sdukʷalbixʷ'') are a southern Coast Salish peoples, Coast Salish Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their homelands span the Snoqualmie Vall ...

, is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, east of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington. It lies on the western margin of the Cascade Range just above the coastal plains around

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

, and towers over the nearby town of North Bend. Mount Si and neighboring mountain Little Si were named after local homesteader Josiah "Uncle Si" Merritt. The mountain became nationally familiar in the early 1990s with the television series ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 fo ...

'', which was filmed in North Bend. Only about a 45-minute drive from Seattle, the mountain is a favorite outdoor destination for residents of

. Between 80,000 and 100,000 hikers visit the mountain annually. The land is owned by the state of Washington and has been designated a Natural Resources Conservation Area. The Mount Si trail vertically climbs to the summit ridge. Its summit is reached by an exposed scramble, , up the north side of the summit block, which is known as the "Haystack". The peak can be accessed by two trails. The Old Mount Si trail is accessed by the Little Si parking lot and the Boulder Garden Loop. It is shorter, steeper in elevation gain, and less crowded than the main trail. The Mount Si trail is accessed by the Mount Si parking lot.

Oceanic Plate Volcano

Mount Si is a remnant of an oceanic plate volcano and the rocks are highly metamorphosed. The rock deposits are a melange including metagabbro, and are Jurassic-Cretaceous in age.

In local native legend

Mount Si figures prominently in a

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

story from the Snoqualmie tribe. According to the story it is the dead body of Snoqualm, the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

. Snoqualm had ordered that a rope of cedar bark be stretched between the earth and the sky. But Fox and Blue Jay went up the rope and stole the sun from Snoqualm. Snoqualm chased them down the cedar rope, but it broke and he fell to his death. Fox then let the sun free in the sky and gave fire to the people. A face like Snoqualm's is visible on the rocks near the summit.

References

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External links

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View of Mount Si from I-90 on Google Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Si, Mount Mountains of King County, Washington Mountains of Washington (state) Washington Natural Areas Program Protected areas of King County, Washington