11-23-24
There
was a big windstorm on Tuesday. Reports talked about a lot of trees
down on trails. Gary and I decided to head to Tiger Mountain with a
couple hand saws to see what we could do. The weather looked bad a few
days earlier but we hoped to have a dry morning. We reached the
trailhead at 7:23 am. It was just a few minutes after sunrise. A few
minutes later we were on our way. The lower High Point Trail was in
good shape. We planned to hike some lesser known trails were it might
take longer for until the trails are cleaned up. We turned onto the
Lingering Trail. There were small evergreen branches on much of our
route. We picked up the larger small branches and removed them from the
trails. We reached a spot where the trail disappeared. We saw this
several times during the day. Logs with lots of branches fell on the
trail and blocked any view of the trail ahead. I pushed on through to
the other side and we started cutting branches in between. With two
saws it did not take long to cut out all the small logs and branches. I
may places there were large logs left to step over or duck beneath. The
trail itself was opened up.
At the next junction we went left on Dwight's Way. This trail was not in bad shape. Fallen branches continued and we moved the larger ones. I have no idea how many branches we picked up and tossed off the trail over 10 miles but it was a lot. We reached the Preston Trail and turned right. This route would take us up to the top of Tiger 1. We ran into several more big blowdowns that obscured the route. Some logs were long enough that it was difficult to go around. By cleaning up the trail we took away the need for boot paths to leave the trail and beat another path. We were able to clean up some big messes in 10 minutes or less but the number of them still took up a lot of time. We often take the Bootleg Trail to the top of Tiger 1. This day we stayed on the shorter Preston Trail as we wanted to get this route as cleaned up as we could. We took out logs up to about 7" in diameter. Many were just too big. Others we could have cut but they took too long. Better to get as many of the smaller ones as we could to best use our time.
At the junction with the trail over to the TMT and Fred's "No Longer A Corner", we heard a chainsaw. Someone was coming up behind us. We did not see them. The next day I saw a report at NWHikers.net talking about the teams of chainsawers on Tiger this day. I hope we cleaned up enough branches to speed up their work. I need to come back soon to see the trails with all the big logs cut out. We continued up seeing branches down every few minutes. In some cases we were able to lift smaller heavy branches and logs off the trail. I sure felt all this work the next day. Just below the Tiger 1 ridge top, there is another junction. Right is the new extended Preston Trail going up to the ridge top just below the summit of Tiger 1. Left is the upper end of the Bootleg Trail. There was a log laying right on the Preston Trail where you turn right. We cut off a dozen branches to allow access alongside the log. We went a short way farther and saw a whole mess of very tall trees that have fallen across the trail. I am not sure if we could have up, over, or around all the big trees. We decided not to try.
We went back to the junction and took the Bootleg Trail. It too had a few logs and branches across it. We cut out most of them and made it easy to hike. We took the old boot path up to the lowest Tiger 1 tower complex. From well below we could hear the loud noise of generators. It was clear that the towers on Tiger had lost their power along with a few hundred thousand people in the Puget Sound basin. We heard loud generators at all three Tiger 1 tower areas and at Tiger 2. I had not previously ever heard the generators in operation. We reached the road and hiked it up to the summit of Tiger 1. The spot forecast had 14 mph winds blowing all morning. We had a light wind with some gusts to about 7-8 mph. The wind was cold but not very strong. We had lunch as it was now 12:08 pm. It took us 4:40 to hike about 4.5 miles. At least half the time we were clearing trails and not hiking. I planned to get home by early to mid afternoon but it became clear that with all the clearing we might need headlamps even though we started right after sunrise. That was a combination of a lot of work and really short days this far north.
We met one couple that were planning to take the Preston Trail down We advised against it with all the big trees down. As we were heading down Gary saw a couple hikers coming up the Preston Trail. It turns out they tried the route and turned around at the big blowdowns. We headed down the trail on the south side of the ridge. It shows as more of the Preston Trail until it reaches the Poo Top Trail. From there to the Hikers Hut it is more of the Poo Top Trail. This trail contours around Tiger 1 on a very steep slope. Part way along we found a log than lay across the trail. There was plenty of room to go under the log but on the other side was a wall of a dozen or more branches blocking the way. We met two hikers who had fought through it. We took time to slowly cut out all the branches and toss them off the trail. When we were done, the trail was clear. A few minutes later we were at the Hikers Hut. Our stop was very short. It was still fully overcast but we could see out pretty well. Mt. Rainier was completely in the clouds all day. There was a bit more wind here and we were quickly on our way down. For once, we had no logs or branches across the wide logging road in the full clearcut.
We dropped to the low point and then climbed the road up to Tiger 2. We arrive at the summit at about 1:20 pm. We had 3:04 left until sunset. There were other people coming and going on Tiger 2. We had not seen many people so far. There was some kind of a small building/tower inside th fenced tower complex. It was now a pile of rubble. Insulation was all over and the metal walls were all bent up. On the road just below the fences one piece of a metal wall was in the road. The wind was strong enough to destroy the metal building. We could clearly see nearby Tiger 3. Downtown Seattle was also visible. I took some photos and we were on our way down. Rather than hike over to Tiger 3 we chose to drop from Tiger 3 to the TMT and take that trail down to the K-3. High on the north side of Tiger again, we found lots of small branches down and cleared many of them. Most winter winds are from the south. This destructive windstorm was from the east. The mountain blocks the south winds protecting trails on the north side. This storm with very strong east winds did a lot of damage. to trails.
We cleaned what we could down to the K-3 trail. We left larger logs as daylight was not too far from waning. We met a runner who said the K-3 was not badly damaged. I suppose that is trees compared to many other areas. Still, we were moving branches and logs every few minutes. On long skinny tree fell directly onto the trail. We cut out twenty or more small branches plus the top 6' or so of the tree. The other 20' we carried off the trail. That made a big improvement. Again, some logs were too big and will await a crew with equipment that can cut them out. The K-3 is signed as an unmaintained trail. It was strange to maintaining an unmaintained trail. At the bottom of the K-3 we met the TMT again. We had one more decision to make. A right turn is the shortest way back to our car at High Point East. Left is longer but more likely to need clearing. Though daylight was waning, we chose to turn left. The TMT was in better shape than most trails. Some people had already done some cleaning here. In one spot a path leads up to go around some bigger trees. We had seen only a few people since the top of Tiger 2.
We reached the start of the TMT at 4:04 pm. We still had 20 minutes until sunset. With little to do on the TMT section, we made much better time. I needed another half mile to get our day up to 10 miles. I still have a chance at reaching 900 miles and every mile counts this time of year. We decided to head down the Bus trail and then come back on the Around the Lake Trail. That adds about .70 miles. There were logs down all around the High Point Trailhead. One was at the start of the TMT. Another was at the start of the Bus Trail. The were small and easy step overs. The Bus Trail was not too bad. Just a few more step overs. The Around the Lake Trail was worse. There are a couple of places where two trees fell over the trail. We could duck under them but clearance for tall people was not much. I had to go on hands and knees for the last one. I was feeling the effects of cutting and lifting so many logs and branches. We reached the parking lot at 4:31 pm. It was now 10 minutes after sunset. The hike along the Connector Trail back to the paved frontage road was easy with no big blowdowns. We walked the road in near darkness. We arrived at the car at 4:51 pm.
This was a long and memorable day. Our 9:19 day went from just after sunrise to well after sunset. Along with 10 miles of hiking and 3000' of elevation gain, we did a lot of trail work. Trip reports show that a lot of volunteers were out with hand saws, clippers, and chainsaws. We saw the benefits of others work on the TMT coming down. It will take some time to remove all the down trees and branches from the trail system but a good start was made this day. The bigger trees will require chainsaws or crosscut saws. It was a fun day of trail work and hiking though I sure felt it the next day.
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Trips - 2024
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At the next junction we went left on Dwight's Way. This trail was not in bad shape. Fallen branches continued and we moved the larger ones. I have no idea how many branches we picked up and tossed off the trail over 10 miles but it was a lot. We reached the Preston Trail and turned right. This route would take us up to the top of Tiger 1. We ran into several more big blowdowns that obscured the route. Some logs were long enough that it was difficult to go around. By cleaning up the trail we took away the need for boot paths to leave the trail and beat another path. We were able to clean up some big messes in 10 minutes or less but the number of them still took up a lot of time. We often take the Bootleg Trail to the top of Tiger 1. This day we stayed on the shorter Preston Trail as we wanted to get this route as cleaned up as we could. We took out logs up to about 7" in diameter. Many were just too big. Others we could have cut but they took too long. Better to get as many of the smaller ones as we could to best use our time.
At the junction with the trail over to the TMT and Fred's "No Longer A Corner", we heard a chainsaw. Someone was coming up behind us. We did not see them. The next day I saw a report at NWHikers.net talking about the teams of chainsawers on Tiger this day. I hope we cleaned up enough branches to speed up their work. I need to come back soon to see the trails with all the big logs cut out. We continued up seeing branches down every few minutes. In some cases we were able to lift smaller heavy branches and logs off the trail. I sure felt all this work the next day. Just below the Tiger 1 ridge top, there is another junction. Right is the new extended Preston Trail going up to the ridge top just below the summit of Tiger 1. Left is the upper end of the Bootleg Trail. There was a log laying right on the Preston Trail where you turn right. We cut off a dozen branches to allow access alongside the log. We went a short way farther and saw a whole mess of very tall trees that have fallen across the trail. I am not sure if we could have up, over, or around all the big trees. We decided not to try.
We went back to the junction and took the Bootleg Trail. It too had a few logs and branches across it. We cut out most of them and made it easy to hike. We took the old boot path up to the lowest Tiger 1 tower complex. From well below we could hear the loud noise of generators. It was clear that the towers on Tiger had lost their power along with a few hundred thousand people in the Puget Sound basin. We heard loud generators at all three Tiger 1 tower areas and at Tiger 2. I had not previously ever heard the generators in operation. We reached the road and hiked it up to the summit of Tiger 1. The spot forecast had 14 mph winds blowing all morning. We had a light wind with some gusts to about 7-8 mph. The wind was cold but not very strong. We had lunch as it was now 12:08 pm. It took us 4:40 to hike about 4.5 miles. At least half the time we were clearing trails and not hiking. I planned to get home by early to mid afternoon but it became clear that with all the clearing we might need headlamps even though we started right after sunrise. That was a combination of a lot of work and really short days this far north.
We met one couple that were planning to take the Preston Trail down We advised against it with all the big trees down. As we were heading down Gary saw a couple hikers coming up the Preston Trail. It turns out they tried the route and turned around at the big blowdowns. We headed down the trail on the south side of the ridge. It shows as more of the Preston Trail until it reaches the Poo Top Trail. From there to the Hikers Hut it is more of the Poo Top Trail. This trail contours around Tiger 1 on a very steep slope. Part way along we found a log than lay across the trail. There was plenty of room to go under the log but on the other side was a wall of a dozen or more branches blocking the way. We met two hikers who had fought through it. We took time to slowly cut out all the branches and toss them off the trail. When we were done, the trail was clear. A few minutes later we were at the Hikers Hut. Our stop was very short. It was still fully overcast but we could see out pretty well. Mt. Rainier was completely in the clouds all day. There was a bit more wind here and we were quickly on our way down. For once, we had no logs or branches across the wide logging road in the full clearcut.
We dropped to the low point and then climbed the road up to Tiger 2. We arrive at the summit at about 1:20 pm. We had 3:04 left until sunset. There were other people coming and going on Tiger 2. We had not seen many people so far. There was some kind of a small building/tower inside th fenced tower complex. It was now a pile of rubble. Insulation was all over and the metal walls were all bent up. On the road just below the fences one piece of a metal wall was in the road. The wind was strong enough to destroy the metal building. We could clearly see nearby Tiger 3. Downtown Seattle was also visible. I took some photos and we were on our way down. Rather than hike over to Tiger 3 we chose to drop from Tiger 3 to the TMT and take that trail down to the K-3. High on the north side of Tiger again, we found lots of small branches down and cleared many of them. Most winter winds are from the south. This destructive windstorm was from the east. The mountain blocks the south winds protecting trails on the north side. This storm with very strong east winds did a lot of damage. to trails.
We cleaned what we could down to the K-3 trail. We left larger logs as daylight was not too far from waning. We met a runner who said the K-3 was not badly damaged. I suppose that is trees compared to many other areas. Still, we were moving branches and logs every few minutes. On long skinny tree fell directly onto the trail. We cut out twenty or more small branches plus the top 6' or so of the tree. The other 20' we carried off the trail. That made a big improvement. Again, some logs were too big and will await a crew with equipment that can cut them out. The K-3 is signed as an unmaintained trail. It was strange to maintaining an unmaintained trail. At the bottom of the K-3 we met the TMT again. We had one more decision to make. A right turn is the shortest way back to our car at High Point East. Left is longer but more likely to need clearing. Though daylight was waning, we chose to turn left. The TMT was in better shape than most trails. Some people had already done some cleaning here. In one spot a path leads up to go around some bigger trees. We had seen only a few people since the top of Tiger 2.
We reached the start of the TMT at 4:04 pm. We still had 20 minutes until sunset. With little to do on the TMT section, we made much better time. I needed another half mile to get our day up to 10 miles. I still have a chance at reaching 900 miles and every mile counts this time of year. We decided to head down the Bus trail and then come back on the Around the Lake Trail. That adds about .70 miles. There were logs down all around the High Point Trailhead. One was at the start of the TMT. Another was at the start of the Bus Trail. The were small and easy step overs. The Bus Trail was not too bad. Just a few more step overs. The Around the Lake Trail was worse. There are a couple of places where two trees fell over the trail. We could duck under them but clearance for tall people was not much. I had to go on hands and knees for the last one. I was feeling the effects of cutting and lifting so many logs and branches. We reached the parking lot at 4:31 pm. It was now 10 minutes after sunset. The hike along the Connector Trail back to the paved frontage road was easy with no big blowdowns. We walked the road in near darkness. We arrived at the car at 4:51 pm.
This was a long and memorable day. Our 9:19 day went from just after sunrise to well after sunset. Along with 10 miles of hiking and 3000' of elevation gain, we did a lot of trail work. Trip reports show that a lot of volunteers were out with hand saws, clippers, and chainsaws. We saw the benefits of others work on the TMT coming down. It will take some time to remove all the down trees and branches from the trail system but a good start was made this day. The bigger trees will require chainsaws or crosscut saws. It was a fun day of trail work and hiking though I sure felt it the next day.
 Blowdown On LT |
 All Cleared |
 Preston Trail Mess |
 Now It Is Cleared |
 Lots Of Mushrooms |
 Suspended Over Trail |
 Before |
 After |
 Eggs Or Mushrooms? |
 Trail Opened |
 Before Trimming |
 A Little Snow |
 Another Mess |
 Cleaned Up |
 Duck Under |
 Beyond Our Ability |
 Red Berries |
 Bootleg Clearing |
 Lower T1 Towers |
 Tiger 1 Summit |
 Looking East |
 Snow Below |
 Tiger 2 |
 Many Branches |
 All Clear Now |
 Hikers Hut |
 Heading For Tiger 2 |
 Looking Back To Tiger 1 |
 Downtown Seattle |
 Tiger 2 & Issaquah |
 Bent Metal |
 Colorful Mushrooms |
 More Shrooms |
 K-3 Log Down |
 K-3 Log Gone |
 Trees Bent & Broken |
 More Clean Up |
 Guttation |
 Last Mushrooms |
 Big Trees Over Trail |
Trips - 2024
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