It was a beautiful day so I decided to hike to Little Si and include the Boulder Garden Loop along the way. The dog needed some exercise and so did I, but I didn't want anything too serious since I am still not 100% recovered from a minor injury. I think I did the Boulder Garden a number of years ago but it was my first time to Little Si.
There were only 5 cars in the parking lot when we came at about 9am. Maybe 20 cars when we got back just before noon. We met about 15 people and a few dogs along the way, mostly on the way down and on the Boulder Garden Loop.
The trail is in a great condition, the ground was frozen so there was no mud, but there was basically no ice (no need for micro spikes). Most of the ascent was at the beginning and the end of the trail (more at the end I think). On the Little Si trail, there are two splits that lead to the cliffs below Little Si for climbers, the cliffs were quite nice, we will probably go have a closer look sometime in the future.
The ascent to Little Si was a good warm up but nothing tragic, and there were three nice lookouts by the top. I think that the best view of Mount Si was from the middle lookout (the photo is from there), but on the top one can also see McClellan Butte, Mount Washington, Mount Lindsay, Cedar Butte (went there a few days ago), and Rattlesnake Mountain. I especially liked the view of Mount Si, this must be one of the best places to look at it up close other than going there.
On the way back, we turned left to the Boulder Garden Loop, and took the loop. It was more ascent than I expected, but we both appreciated the extra exercise and the boulders were pretty nice. But nothing spectacular. Along the loop, the trail splits to the Old Mount Si Trail, which I still have on my todo list.
Altogether, it was about 5.65 miles, 1659 ft total ascent, and 2:29 total moving time. A nice short hike. I think we'll do Little Si more often because it's just about perfect length for walking the dog on a work day with some rewarding views on the top. And it's super short drive from our place. I'll also do Mount Si via Old Mount Si trail at some point, though with that much ascent there are many more hikes that I may prefer.
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