11-15-24
The
weekend forecast was looking very wet. Gary suggested a Friday hike. I
put in a five hour day and we met at 11:15 am. We headed east. With a
partly wet day we planned an 8 mile hike to Poo Poo Point from Sunset
Way. In the morning the forecast turned dry and we changed to a trip
over Tiger 1, 2 and 3. This one could be enlarged to a longer trip if
the conditions proved good. On my previous hike, I went over 200,000'
for the year and reached 789 miles. I still needed 11 miles to get up
to my goal of 800 miles. We reached our parking spot at east end of the
High Point exit. We were on our way at 12:02 pm. The sky was partly
blue overhead. Driving in we could see that the tops of the Tiger peaks
were buried in thick clouds. Part way up the High Point Trail I
realized I had left my umbrella in my car. Oh well, it should be mostly
dry. We took the Lingering Trail to add a little distance and since we
seldom take it. We reached the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) and turned
left.
The TMT is well graded and hikes pretty fast. We took a short break at Ruth's Cove. The skunk cabbage leaves were still standing in late summer but are now gone. The trail above brought us towards the bottom of the cloud layer. It was a chilly 44 degrees at the start and was getting a little colder. We left the TMT and headed over to the Preston Trail. This would take us up to Tiger 1. T:he rest of the way up we were in the cloud layer. A little rain dripped on us and then hail. Gary took out his umbrella. I had to go to my rain jacket. The forest was thick enough that much of the precipitation was blocked. The hail was dry and much preferred to the rain. We reached the next junction and turned right. Gary noticed the bleeding hearts. They are one of the first spring flowers to bloom. They are not supposed to be at full bloom in mid-November. We saw several patches in bloom.
Overhead were thick white clouds to the left and some blue sky to the right. The sun was behind the thick clouds. It was not that light out. We reached the summit road to see clearly to the north. To the east, west, and south it was close clouds in places and longer views in others. We headed up to the summit to get out of the wind. At first I could see East Tiger Mountain. The tree tops below the summit were white with fresh snow. A minute later clouds blew by and I could barely make out anything near East Tiger. It was 2:10 pm when we reached the 2948' summit of West Tiger 1. The temperature was in the upper 30s. We had a food and water break. We packed up to head on at 2:26 pm. We took the new Poo Top Trail around the summit to the Hikers Hut on the west side. It was very misty. I could not see the top of Squak Mountain nor Tiger 2. I could see the cloudy ridge running down towards Poo Poo Point. We did not stay long.
The drop down the road heading to Tiger 2 is just as steep as I recall it. Part way down we looked over the side at the new trail being built to avoid the steep road. John and I went down it earlier. It was not very long. Gary wanted a look so we descended the gentle switchbacks. The trail is longer than on the earlier visit but ends well before the bottom. There are flags all the way down. We chose to head straight up to the road rather than retracing our steps. Our view from the road included a neat rainbow. It sat in the short distance from the bottom of the clouds to the ground. The colors were very spectacular. Many photos were taken trying to catch it in detail. We dropped to the bottom and ascended the road up to the top of West Tiger 2. The clouds were dissipating overhead. I could see the bottom half of Mt. Si to the east. Central Peak on Squak was now in the clear. The clouds were still quite impressive but more blue sky was appearing.
Not only Issaquah but Bellevue and Seattle were now in view. We could see a couple hikers over on top of West Tiger 1. We had only seen one person on the way to Tiger 1. Now we saw a few more. We arrived atop Tiger 2 at 3:01 pm. Sunset would be at 4:31 pm. We only stayed for 4 minutes. On the way down Tiger 2 we noticed parasailors near Poo Poo Point. I doubt they had much thermal lift at about 40 degrees but we saw about four or five up at the same time. We arrived atop Tiger 3 at 3:25 pm. I took a few more photos and we headed down. We saw surprisingly few hikers on the trail down. A couple of them passed us going down but few were going up. As we neared the bottom we discussed what to do next. The rain was long gone and did not look like it would return. I hoped for a few more miles and Gary was in agreement.
The Tradition Plateau has trails crisscrossing it making it easy to add on a little more distance. Very little elevation gain is required. We headed left on the Bus Trail. This easy trail hikes very quickly. We started on the Bus Trail at 4:38 pm. That was seven minutes after sunset. We continued on to Round Lake. It is a lake in winter through spring but in summer it is more of a puddle in the middle of a big meadow. Even with recent rain it looks more like the latter. It was getting dark and time to pull out our headlamps. We took one more detour and then headed back the way we came. We estimated that we would end up width about 11 miles for the day. We reached the parking lot to find cars still in the lot. It was way after dusk. Another .30 miles on the Connector Trail brought us to the gate and pave road. The gate was still open. The last half mile or so brought us back to my car. With in a few feet of the end, Gary's talking GPS announced we had reached 11 miles. That was some very good estimating we did.
It was 5:50 pm back at the car. This was the first time this fall that we have put in more than an hour hiking with headlamps. This turned out to be a very enjoyable hike. We did have a little rain but the hail was dry and not a problem. Clouds blocked much of the view from Tiger 1 but improved on Tiger 2 and Tiger 3. The clouds themselves provided some great views. The bright rainbow was an unexpected bonus. The first half of the hike we saw almost nobody. There were no runners on the Tiger 1 or all the way up to there. It was chilly but the wind was very light. Most importantly to me, the 11 miles we hiked brought me up to exactly 800 miles on the year. 800 is the level that I consider a very good hiking year. It was the 15th consecutive and 20th overall year that I have reached that level. I now have six+ weeks left in the year to make a run at 900 miles.
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Trips - 2024
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The TMT is well graded and hikes pretty fast. We took a short break at Ruth's Cove. The skunk cabbage leaves were still standing in late summer but are now gone. The trail above brought us towards the bottom of the cloud layer. It was a chilly 44 degrees at the start and was getting a little colder. We left the TMT and headed over to the Preston Trail. This would take us up to Tiger 1. T:he rest of the way up we were in the cloud layer. A little rain dripped on us and then hail. Gary took out his umbrella. I had to go to my rain jacket. The forest was thick enough that much of the precipitation was blocked. The hail was dry and much preferred to the rain. We reached the next junction and turned right. Gary noticed the bleeding hearts. They are one of the first spring flowers to bloom. They are not supposed to be at full bloom in mid-November. We saw several patches in bloom.
Overhead were thick white clouds to the left and some blue sky to the right. The sun was behind the thick clouds. It was not that light out. We reached the summit road to see clearly to the north. To the east, west, and south it was close clouds in places and longer views in others. We headed up to the summit to get out of the wind. At first I could see East Tiger Mountain. The tree tops below the summit were white with fresh snow. A minute later clouds blew by and I could barely make out anything near East Tiger. It was 2:10 pm when we reached the 2948' summit of West Tiger 1. The temperature was in the upper 30s. We had a food and water break. We packed up to head on at 2:26 pm. We took the new Poo Top Trail around the summit to the Hikers Hut on the west side. It was very misty. I could not see the top of Squak Mountain nor Tiger 2. I could see the cloudy ridge running down towards Poo Poo Point. We did not stay long.
The drop down the road heading to Tiger 2 is just as steep as I recall it. Part way down we looked over the side at the new trail being built to avoid the steep road. John and I went down it earlier. It was not very long. Gary wanted a look so we descended the gentle switchbacks. The trail is longer than on the earlier visit but ends well before the bottom. There are flags all the way down. We chose to head straight up to the road rather than retracing our steps. Our view from the road included a neat rainbow. It sat in the short distance from the bottom of the clouds to the ground. The colors were very spectacular. Many photos were taken trying to catch it in detail. We dropped to the bottom and ascended the road up to the top of West Tiger 2. The clouds were dissipating overhead. I could see the bottom half of Mt. Si to the east. Central Peak on Squak was now in the clear. The clouds were still quite impressive but more blue sky was appearing.
Not only Issaquah but Bellevue and Seattle were now in view. We could see a couple hikers over on top of West Tiger 1. We had only seen one person on the way to Tiger 1. Now we saw a few more. We arrived atop Tiger 2 at 3:01 pm. Sunset would be at 4:31 pm. We only stayed for 4 minutes. On the way down Tiger 2 we noticed parasailors near Poo Poo Point. I doubt they had much thermal lift at about 40 degrees but we saw about four or five up at the same time. We arrived atop Tiger 3 at 3:25 pm. I took a few more photos and we headed down. We saw surprisingly few hikers on the trail down. A couple of them passed us going down but few were going up. As we neared the bottom we discussed what to do next. The rain was long gone and did not look like it would return. I hoped for a few more miles and Gary was in agreement.
The Tradition Plateau has trails crisscrossing it making it easy to add on a little more distance. Very little elevation gain is required. We headed left on the Bus Trail. This easy trail hikes very quickly. We started on the Bus Trail at 4:38 pm. That was seven minutes after sunset. We continued on to Round Lake. It is a lake in winter through spring but in summer it is more of a puddle in the middle of a big meadow. Even with recent rain it looks more like the latter. It was getting dark and time to pull out our headlamps. We took one more detour and then headed back the way we came. We estimated that we would end up width about 11 miles for the day. We reached the parking lot to find cars still in the lot. It was way after dusk. Another .30 miles on the Connector Trail brought us to the gate and pave road. The gate was still open. The last half mile or so brought us back to my car. With in a few feet of the end, Gary's talking GPS announced we had reached 11 miles. That was some very good estimating we did.
It was 5:50 pm back at the car. This was the first time this fall that we have put in more than an hour hiking with headlamps. This turned out to be a very enjoyable hike. We did have a little rain but the hail was dry and not a problem. Clouds blocked much of the view from Tiger 1 but improved on Tiger 2 and Tiger 3. The clouds themselves provided some great views. The bright rainbow was an unexpected bonus. The first half of the hike we saw almost nobody. There were no runners on the Tiger 1 or all the way up to there. It was chilly but the wind was very light. Most importantly to me, the 11 miles we hiked brought me up to exactly 800 miles on the year. 800 is the level that I consider a very good hiking year. It was the 15th consecutive and 20th overall year that I have reached that level. I now have six+ weeks left in the year to make a run at 900 miles.
 The Dragon Log |
 Witches' Butter |
 Mushrooms |
 Hail On The Trail |
 Leaves On The Trail |
 Blooming Bleeding Hearts |
 Dark & Light |
 Seattle & Cougar Mt. |
 Tiger 2 |
 East Tiger Mt. |
 East Tiger In Clouds |
 Heading Around Tiger 1 |
 Nice Fall Colors |
 Hikers Hut |
 Tiger 2 In Clouds |
 Clouds & Blue Sky |
 Tiger 2 Clear Again |
 Face In The Clouds |
 Bright & Dark |
 Clouds Blow By |
 Bottom Of Mt. Si |
 Rainbow |
 Rainbow Closer Up |
 Downtown Seattle |
 Seattle Wider Angle |
 Orange Fungus |
 Parasailor |
 Looking To Tiger 2 |
 Getting Dark |
 Round Lake? |
 Hiking After Dark |
 Near The Finish |
Trips - 2024
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