I am not a fan of starting hikes during the heat of the day on a nearly 80 degree day. That said, it was a sunny Friday before a very we and stormy weekend. After work I headed east to Tiger Mountain. When the DNR ended the restriction on hiking their lands the trailheads were mobbed with cars. It has eased off a bit now. I found only 8 cars near the start of the trail. For the entire hike I passed only 9 people. Not bad for a sunny Friday late afternoon. I left my car at 2:48 pm. The road walk was very hot. Once in forest it was hot but much better. I reached the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) and it began to cool a bit. I was slower than normal but kept up a steady pace. I left the TMT with a left turn over to the Preston Trail. I was surprised to find a number of wild ginger plants along here most have not yet bloomed though I found a few that were in full bloom.

At the top of the Preston Trail I headed off trail up to the tower complex above. Now out of the forest I could see that more clouds had come in. I passed a patch of blooming lupine here. The road walk to the real summit is out in the open. The clouds made it much more pleasant. There was a bit of a cool breeze that helped too. I stopped before going back into the forest. Views of the Cascade Crest here. Clouds made for poor contrast but I could pick out Glacier Peak. I had one peek-a-boo view of Mt. Rainier. Time for some food and water while in the open.

After that I went into forest up to the summit. I headed down tot he Bypass Trail over to the Hiker's Hut view point. So far I had seen only four people. One other hiker was at the viewpoint. Mt. Rainier was in the clear. After a few photos I headed down the steep road. On the way to Tiger 2 I passed one more hiker At the top of Tiger 2 I saw another hiker. All the way down I saw only one more group. this being the only on solo folks seen all day. I reached my car at 7:02 pm. Including stops I took 4:14 to hike 8 miles with 2800' of elevation gain. In these pandemic days it is nice to only see a handful of other folks. There were 8 cars when I came down. The same number as when I started out. Saturday had the forecast thunder and lightening. I was glad to get my mileage in on a dry if a bit warm day.