Tiger
3 Icy
02-16-25
Saturday
I skied at Cabin Creek and
Amabilis Mountain with Gary. This has been an awful hiking month so I
planned a hike up Tiger 3 for Sunday. The weather looked to be terrible
but It is a short trip up and down Tiger 3. I figured to look for a
short break between the rain and go for it in the morning. I got up and
found that there was only a few showers and some were on Tiger. I
finally headed out at about 8:10 am. The side of the road off the
highway was still snowy. The parking lot was half icy snow too. The lot
was about half full. I parked and headed out at 8:44 am. The trail was
bare at first. When it started to ascend I began to see a little ice.
By ice I mean packed snow that has frozen and thawed until it is solid
ice. Ice and dirt alternated. I went around the ice on snow waiting for
the dirt to end. After the first switchback right it soon became mostly
ice and I stopped to put on microspikes. Of course, I then had another
section of dirt before the whole trail was almost entirely ice. The
spikes worked great. I had excellent traction on the snow/ice.
I passed the turnoff for the Talus Rocks Trail and continued up. A few
groups were seen coming down in the first mile. My goal was to get to
the top before the rain started. With rain set to start sometime around
10:00 am I kept up a steady pace. The higher I went the softer the
ice/snow. Nearing the old railroad grade at 2000' the ice had a slushy
top. In the last half mile the slushy top turned into goopy slush. I
was glad I had on high top boots as my feet stayed dry. Nearing the
summit of Tiger 3 I could hear the wind. Going up the north side I was
sheltered from the wind but It was blowing steadily on top. I came out
of the forest for the last short bit and the wind was a steady 10+ mph
gusting to at least 15 mph. That was cold. My GPS track says I spent
three minutes on top. I had time to take a few photos and put on a
jacket. I could see out towards Seattle through blowing low clouds on
one side. I could not see any Cascade peaks in the other direction.
Tiger 2 was clear too. I outlasted another hiker who spent about 15
seconds on top. I arrived at 10:03 am and headed down at 10:06 am. So
far I had not seen a drop of rain.
I passed some hikers coming up that I had passed twenty minutes
earlier. I was faster than some people this day. It did not take long
to get out of the wine. The rest of the descent was much warmer. I saw
hikers coming up off and on but the weather seemed to have kept most
people at home. Traction improved as the slush turned to ice farther
down. Straight up and down would get me 5.6 miles but I hoped to get a
few more. Considering having gone skiing the day before my legs felt
really good after 2000' of elevation gain. Since I had hiked so few
miles this month longer sounded better. I had rain pants, rain jacket,
and an umbrella. Going down in the rain is much easier than going up
and sweating up a storm encased in plastic. At the Talus Rocks Trail I
had one mile to go to the car. I decided to take a left turn. The Talus
Rocks route proved another 80' of elevation gain and more mileage. I
was nearing the end of solid ice and the TR had a bit more of it. That
was okay as I kept my microspikes on.
The route climbs then drops to the crossing of a small creek that is a
waterfall above. There was just enough water to make for a scenic view.
A short climb brought me to the Talus Rocks. The trail weaves between
big boulders here. It was neat with some snow and ice on the ground.
Once through, I dropped to the top of the Nook Trail. I could have
taken the Section Line Trail down for more mileage but if the rain came
down hard I would have a longer trek back to the car. I headed down the
nook. It was a bit icy up high but turned to partly then mostly dirt as
I descended. I kept my microspikes on much longer than I should have.
When I finally took them off on the bench at Pipsee's View, ice started
up again. It did not last long. The ice and snow did make for some
interesting photos. I probably would not have done a trip report for
this trip except as a way to recall the beautiful white ice and snow. I
reached the bottom of the Nook Trail at the Bus Trail. I turned left
and headed away from the trailhead.
I was very surprised to see that much of the low elevation trail had
ice and snow on it. It is flat so I managed okay without putting spikes
back on but it was a bit slick. I ended up going almost to the Gas Line
Trail when I calculated turning around would get me back at just over 8
miles on the day. Still, there was no rain. I turned left on the Around
The Lake Trail and took it back to the High Point lot and trailhead. I
arrived back at my car at 11:56. It was just barely a morning hike. The
whole drive home was rain free as was the rest of the day at home. I am
glad I did not let a lousy weather forecast keep me off the trail. The
parking lot was now almost full though there were no cars parked along
the road just outside the lot.
I wanted to get in some miles and elevation gain on a cold, rainy, and
windy day. I did get in 8 miles and 2100' of gain but did not have the
rain and only had wind on the summit. With a weekend long storm set to
arrive for the next weekend this is still looking like a poor hiking
month. I may have to get very wet for that weekend.