Richard Hu
r.hu@berkeley.edu
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Mount Teneriffe
Hiked on July 10, 2021
Like Mount Si, Mount Teneriffe is also easily accessible from Seattle, with a dedicated ORCA line to the trailhead. You have two different options for making the ascent: a more roundabout trail and the Kamikaze Trail. I opted for the Kamikaze trail, which shortens the length of the climb at the expense of your legs; the Kamikaze trail was extremely steep and I found myself taking very frequent breaks especially as I neared the end. When I hiked this trail, it was pretty cloudy so the summit was quite underwhelming. On my way down, I decided to spare my knees and take the more roundabout route.
I ascended the Kamikaze Trail alongside another hiker, which was nice because it gave me reassurance that I was not veering off-trail at any point. As the climb went on, I think we developed a mutual respect for each other, which was pretty cool, and we ended up taking the descent together. His name was Aaron, I think, and we talked about what we were up to. He recently graduated from the University of Arizona and was working in Seattle; he said he enjoyed hikes in the city a lot and he didn’t actually come out to the woods too often; he also talked about his high school days, when fast food restaurants like Domino’s used to sponsor his lunches, and his journey to living a more healthy life. We both took the bus back and at my stop, we parted ways. Hiking is cool because often, you get to meet people like Aaron that you might never have met otherwise.
