[Karen]

For a short, easy loop in the rain, this is the place. Had the whole trail to myself, surprised to find it without signs. Perhaps it's not officially open though a person I talked to at DNR said it was open. Anyway, it's a nice loop if you want to do something a little different from Little Si, the Talus Loop or Mount Si on a wet morning like this one. It's a hodgepodge of old trails/roads linked together including, I believe, parts of the Old Si trail, the Old Old Si trail, the Middle Aged Trail, the Mossy Vista write-up per Harvey Manning in Footsore, your Newphew's Trail and my Aunt Sophie's Trail. Anyway it's nice. I took the camera for the hike, never took it out of my pack. I'd seen many of the boulders before on previous hikes but it was nice to have a path linking them all together and the gloom only enhanced the trail. Trolls lurking around every corner. My buddy and I rode to the trailhead together -- he to hike up Little Si with the Conditioning Hiking Course we're both involved in and me to be alone. This was one of the first hikes for the conditioning class -- the graduation hike will be a day hike through the Enchantments if they don't burn down first or there's a flood from Lake Colchuck. Anyway, I gave my buddy an extra car key in case he got back first. I beat them back and had a whole hour to change into dry clothes, pour a cup of nasty, black coffee and read while the rain came down. There were lots of others out and about today, despite the rain the parking lot was full. Karen PS If you want to do the hike, it's pretty easy even without signs. Instead of turning left for Little Si (starting from the Little Si trail) turn right at the sign for Little Si (major junction). The unsigned trail going off to the right is the right trail. It climbs through boulders via old roads and such and at an unsigned junction, turn left, back toward the Old Si trail. No signs are needed really for most of you .... the trail drops back down to the Little Si trail. About a 2.5 mile loop with 800 feet of elevation gain. Really nice. No photos. Karen

[Jeff R]

Sounds great! thanks Karen