[Nancy]

Neither of us had ever hiked Little Si before, so today was the day. It was a quick, easy hike with a nice view of Rattlesnake, Mt. Washington, and McClellan Butte. Then we found ourselves a bit bored and wishing for a little more--in what my husband calls the bit off too little to chew state. We crossed the stream and stopped at an unmarked trail heading toward the real Si, wondering if this was the old Mt. Si trail. So why not find out. The trail was good but steep and we were soon at 1300' and an intersection with a cairn. A rough track continued over a stone step and a nice wide smooth trail took off to the right. It started almost level but soon headed down. We weren't getting to Si that way, so back to the cairn and up on a rough eroded patch that didn't last long. Then it was back to steep but switchbacked tread. We heard voices, crested the ridge, and almost landed on the main Mt. Si trail. Our trail followed the ridge straight up, but at 3570' the snow patches melded into ice and it was time to put on the YakTrax. Time was getting short, so we turned back and were soon at the cairn where we were in luck. Some helpful and knowledgeable hikers appeared and told us the smooth trail was really the old Mt. Si trail and was a much nicer way back to the parking lot. And so it was. Our quick be back by lunch hike turned into a 4160' of altitude day.

[Grizzy]

Good for you! I love hikes like that...."I'm not done yet....What's over there?" I'm terrible at stopping sometimes... Nice TR I haven't tried that "Old Si" trail yet, now I guess I'll have to see it for myself