On Sunday morning my buddy and I got up early and headed out to North Bend for a nice easy hike up Little Si.  This is Mt. Si's very little brother and it was a breeze.  The trail is about 2 miles from car to summit and climbs about 1100 feet.  A sign at the trailhead indicates 2.2 miles.  I used my new GPS (thanks REI dividend!) for the first time and measured 1.9 miles.  We hit the trail at about 6:50 AM and it took just under an hour to get up to the top (which we had to ourselves).  The views were just okay.  We could look up at the summit of Mt. Si and to the south and southeast we could see Rattlesnake Mountain, Cedar Butte, and Mt. Washington.

On our return we took the Boulder Garden Loop (Old Mt. Si trail) and found it to be very steep.  It was good though, as we are quite out of shape from a lazy winter.  The loop itself added about 1.5 miles to our hike for a total distance of about 5 miles.  We were in the car early and home early.

This is a great little hike for inexperienced hikers, hikers with kids, or anyone looking for a quick trip.  I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else.  I am glad to have gotten a small taste of the Old Mt. Si trail on the Boulder Garden Loop and will probably go all the way up later this summer.  It climbs to the same point as the new Mt. Si trail but with 25% less distance.  I'd expect it to be closer to Mailbox Peak or Mt. Teneriffe in terms of effort and difficulty.