East
Tiger Big Loop
02-19-24
It
was the Presidents Day holiday and I needed to go for a hike. Nobody
else was available. I did a long drive on Saturday and opted for a
close in hike for Monday. The forecast was awful at the NWS but other
sites had it mostly dry with moderate winds. I decided on a trip I last
hiked 2 years ago. It is a loop going up East Tiger Mountain and down
via the Off The Grid and NW Timber Trail. It's a little over 10 miles
with about 1900' of gain. I wanted to get an early start to get out
ahead of the mountain bikers. The second half of my route gets a lot
less bike traffic than the route up East Tiger. Also, if the weather
did turn bad in the afternoon I would be well on my way downhill. I was
on the road at 6:58. Traffic was fairly light as I headed east. The
construction zone on Highway 18 did not slow me down much as no work
was going on. I reached the inner parking lot at Tiger Summit at 7:38
am. The lot had only a dozen cars or less. I was packed and on the move
at 7:42 am. It was overcast but in the low 40s.
I zipped along the Connector Trail and crossed the road onto the NW
Timber Trail. At the first junction I headed uphill on the Master Link
Trail. I usually don't see many bikes on this trail until after about
8:30 am. A short way up this trail I was passed by two guys on bikes. I
would not see anyone else until the summit of East Tiger. There were a
lot of logs freshly cut that fell across the trail. I only saw one that
was still on the trail. I set a good pace. I was at 3.2 mph when the
bikers passed me and still at 3.0 mph at the top of the Master Link.
Heat slows me down but at 40F it was much easier. That is not to say I
am unhappy when war spring days return.Unfortunately, my GPS is at odds
with the maps. I recorded 4.65 miles to the summit and maps show 4.10.
That is a much larger difference than usual. I guess my speed was below
3 mph. I crossed the road at the top of the ML and continued on the
Quick Link. It was about time that faster bikers usually show up. Not
this day. I was soon back on the road. It climbs a little and drops to
the junction with the East Tiger Summit spur road. I had gained about
1250' so far with 350' to go in the last .70 miles. The summit spur is
steep in places and I kept up a very good pace. I reached the summit at
9:16 am. If it was 4.1 miles up in 1:34 then I averaged a little over
2.6 mph. There was a lone bikers on the summit. Two runners came up and
immediately left. I saw two bikers coming up and three people on
top. That is not bad for a very popular biking destination.
Mt. Rainier was mostly in the clouds. I could only see the bottom of
it. While it was cloudy all around, it was sunny on the summit. There
was a bit of a breeze but it was not that cold. I ended up staying on
top until 9:40 am. That was my only break of more than five minutes all
day. My plan was to drop to the East Tiger Trail crossing and then head
back to the summit. That would get me up to 2000' of gain on the day
and push me to near 11 miles. I did just that. There was a group of
bikers at the junction when I reached it once again. Two headed out and
the rest looked close to going. I headed onto the East Tiger Trail and
a minute later the bikers started passing me. I think there were about
8 altogether. They went on down the East Tiger Trail and I quickly
turned off on the Off The Grid Trail (OTG). This trail looks like a lot
of fun if you like lots of jumps. I don't think I could bike it without
serious injury. It is very narrow in spots crossing steep slopes. I
hoped to not see many bikers.
The trail was built with sharp turns for fun. It is not your average
hiking trail. I got a little tired at times jumping down where bikes
would be flying. It is well graded and I made good time. I was several
miles along when the first and only biker passed me. The terrain was
flatter and I moved off the trail easily. I reached the road crossing
at 10:47 am. I was now about 7 miles along with 4 miles still to go. I
crossed the road and started down the Fully Rigid Trail. This trail
continued the descent. The Silent Swamp Trail came in and the trail
name changes to the Joy Ride. Being a bike trail, it has some long
switchbacks where a hikers trail would have several much shorter
switchbacks. It adds some distance but makes the route less steep. The
rest of the way back has a lot of medium long trails. Trails with
handrails and 25' to 45' long. I did not have any rock hops on the
entire route. I came to another junction. Until a few years ago, I had
always stayed on the main bike trail. The short side trail leads to a
very grassy road where vehicles can drive in with equipment and people
to perform trail maintenance. I have taken to hiking this .50 mile
section is easy on the feet and avoids having to pass bikes on the
narrow trail. I stopped along here for my second and lat food break.
I met up with the Joy Ride Trail again followed it down to the NW
Timber Trail. This would take me right back to my car. It starts with a
gentle uphill grade then has some small ups and downs. It hikes pretty
fast. Along the way are some great mossy arbors that reach above the
trail. Some of the best ones were knocked down as trees fell across it
in a big wind storm half a dozen years ago. The ones left are pretty
neat. I met a lone hiker coming toward me. He mentioned that there is a
big blowdown ahead. He managed to get around it but it was not easy. I
figured if he could so could I. It was after I would reach the Bypass
Trail. The trail is for bikes only but if the blowdown as really bad it
would be an option this day.
I reached the Bypass Trail and a few minutes later I reached th
blowdown. I would guess there are half a dozen small and medium sized
trees down. It is right at the end of a small bridge. The bridge looks
to be okay. With all the branches and all the trees it would be a
nightmare to go through it. Going downstream is not a good option
either I went upstream and went up and over each blowdown. It took a
few minutes but I made it around just fine. This is a popular trail and
I expect the bikers will get to work clearing ti soon. After that it
was smooth sailing the rest of the way back. I passed another hiker
coming in and just after the Master Link junction, I passed a big group
of about 9 bikers. That about doubled the number of people seen this
day.
I arrived back at the trailhead at 12:15 pm. It was still pretty early.
I had hiked 11 miles with 2000' of gain by lunchtime. The lot was not
almost full. The road had one car parked along it. I often see 20 or
more turning the two lane wide road into a one lane wide road. Not
today. I had a little drizzle the last mile though I did not see much
of it in the forest. The drive home was easy. Enough people had the
holiday off that I cruised right through downtown Seattle. For the
three day weekend I had two hikes for 22 miles with 4200' of gain. Good
mileage but a little below average on the gain. It is still February to
two dry hikes was a real plus.
Old Cut Logs
|
New Log Across Trail
|
Recent Repair
|
Colorful Fungi
|
Big Tree & Bridge
|
Recently Cut Logs
|
Big Mossy Erratic
|
On The Road Again
|
East Tiger In Sight
|
Clay Colored Road
|
Almost At East Summit
|
Mt. Rainier In Clouds
|
Biker Zooms By
|
Off The Grid Trail
|
Bike Jumps
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Trail Visible Ahead
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Slalom Turns
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Grade Eases
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Rock Trail Finish
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Start Of Next Trail
|
Big Bridges Beginning
|
First Mossy Arch
|
Maintenance Road
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On The NW Timber Trail
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West Rattlesnake Mt.
|
Log Not Blocking Way
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Another Bridge
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Big Blowdown
|
More Mossy Arbors
|
Colorful Arbor
|
Mossy Non Arbor
|
The Last Arbor
|
Click on thumbnails to get
larger pictures.
Photo
Page 2
Trips
- 2024
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