This is a relatively easy hike. There is a little bit of steep section at the start, and then there is some climbing at the end up to the summit, but the middle stretch has long walks under some shady trees. It is only 5 miles round trip, at about 1200 feet of elevation gain. When you get to the top of Little Si, and look way up at Mount Si towering above - now that would be a difficult hike.
Just because a hike isn't strenous doesn't mean it isn't nice - Little Si is quite nice. We started early, ahead of most of the crowds, and saw hardly any one on the way up (except for a group of back packers coming down, apparently they had camped overnight near the top.) The trail curls around behind Little Si, in between Little Si and Mount Si. The backside of Little Si has some sharp rock formations - on our way back down, we walked over to the those rock cliffs and ended up spending about 15 minutes talking with a party of rock-climbers. The whole north face of Little Si is apparently marked with anchors and routes for climbing - the steep vertical rocks and nearness of the mountain to Seattle make it a popular destination for practicing climbs.
At the top of Little Si are some nice views of the I-90 corridor. We could look across at Rattlesnake Ledge. There were some towers along the ridge, I wasn't sure which set of tours was considered East Peak, which we had hiked to last year. We still haven't done the western side along Rattlesnake ledge to Panorama point.
On our way down, we saw a lot more people coming up. This is a good hike with a rewarding view, so it is good so many people come out to enjoy the outdoors. After the morning clouds dissipated, the temperature heated up - much better to go uphill with an early start before it is hot.
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