04-12-26
John
joined me for a Saturday hike.
On Thursday afternoon/evening we did 10 miles on Cougar Mountain.
Saturday looked to be mostly overcast. We chose another short drive for
a one way trip over Tiger Mountain. We did this trip last New Year's
Eve. It was sub freezing at the start but mid 50s up high. It would be
a similar temperature 3+ months later but not as sunny. We met at High
Point East at 7:40 am. A few minutes later we were at the East Sunset
Way Trailhead. It was 45F when we started out at 7:50 am. It is still
early in the year but we did have some wildflowers on Cougar. We hoped
to see some this day. The trail starts with a quick climb up to the
Tradition Plateau. We saw some blooming Oregon grape near the start.
We soon turned right onto the Adventure Trail. Blooming trillium
started showing up. The trail climbs then drops to the High School
Trail. As expected, we did not see anyone at first. On the Poo Poo
Point Trail we started seeing people. One couple stayed ahead of us
much of the way. A group of a dozen runners sped by us in smaller
clumps. On the way, we saw a few big bunches of blooming bleeding
hearts. We saw a couple on Cougar but many more on this trip. We
crossed the bridge and began switchbacking up the slope. We turned off
onto the trail over to Poo Poo Point. The new trail becomes old road
and we started seeing spider webs. John noticed them first. I took a
shot of one with a salmonberry flower in front. We slowed down enjoying
the webs. Bright low sun and wet webs turned a bright white color. It
was a pleasant surprise.
We arrived at the top of Poo Poo Point at 9:34 am. We were about 3.5 miles into the hike. We had entered the clouds after a couple miles and visibility at the Point was minimal. Minimal as in I could just make out a person down on the fake grass take off level. Two hikers were at the picnic table at the highest spot. The Bob Rivers Bench was empty but wet. It was the second time I have seen it. It was brand new back on New Year's Eve. It was chilly and damp so we did not take a long break. By 9:42 am we were back on our way. We headed back the way we came to the junction with the One View Trail and turned right and uphill. We climbed up to the railroad grade and continued on the One View Trail. A little farther up we found a lot more lit up spider webs. These were some of the best ones I have seen while out on the trail. After starting up the One View, we had a lot of solitude. The next junction was the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). I completely missed the junction but it was quickly clear we were on the mostly flat TMT and no longer climbing up the spine of the One View ridge. It did not take long to reach the next junction. We turned uphill on the Hidden Forest Trail. It is steep at first and there is a big tree to duck under. It flattens out and then we reached the Main Tiger Mountain Road.
We were now above the low clouds though high clouds remained. There was a big patch of blooming coltsfoot alongside the road. We had a short food and water break before heading up the Poo Top Trail. As we started up a group of runners came up the Hidden Forest Trail. They started down the road then turned around and started up the Poo Top. They never caught up with us not due to our speed. The Poo Top is steep. I was starting to feel it. We popped out of the forest and reached the next junction with the towers of Tiger 1 right above us. We turned right on the Preston Trail up to the road. Mt. Rainier was not seen then or any time this day. East Tiger was visible with clouds moving towards the summit. We reached the road then went up the last bit to the summit at about 2950'. We had about 3000' of gain done. We arrived at 11:16 am, having covered about 6.5 miles. Views were almost non-existent. We saw a hiker going down the Preston Trail and a group coming up. That group headed down the ridge top road. Almost nobody does that. At 11:30 am we started down.
We followed our route back to the Poo Top junction and around Tiger 1 to the west side and the Hikers Hut. From there, we could see the route down and up to the top of Tiger 2. That was all we could see. There was a little sunshine in places coming from small sucker holes overhead. Down we went to the low point for our last steep climb of the day. On the way, I noticed a big patch of coltsfoot that was very pink. Better color than most. We reached the top of Tiger 2 at 12:01 pm. It as only noon and we had just 3.5 miles to go. Now we had a little sunshine but still no views out. I could see back to Tiger 1 and I could imagine where nearby Tiger 3 would be. Down we went to Tom's Crossing where we picked up the TMT again. The rest of the way down was easy hiking. We saw hikers off and on. It was never crowded. On the way, we saw one spring beauty in bloom. That was it for the day. At Ruth's Cove we saw some bright yellow skunk cabbage. In the last mile we saw a great display of turkeytail fungus. We reached my car at 2:06 pm.
I drove John the short couple of miles back to the Sunset Trailhead. For the day we hiked 11 miles with 3600' of elevation gain. It was the most gain I have had since the same hike on the last day of last year. It is always nice to have a one way trip, especially when the trailheads are so close together. The weather was not warm and clear but it was dry and it warmed up to about 60F at the finish. The wildflower show was not as good at Cougar a few days earlier but it was not bad. We had almost no views but that was expected. Our route provided some long sections with no other hikers. All in all, it was a fine day for an 11 mile hike.
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Trips - 2026
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We arrived at the top of Poo Poo Point at 9:34 am. We were about 3.5 miles into the hike. We had entered the clouds after a couple miles and visibility at the Point was minimal. Minimal as in I could just make out a person down on the fake grass take off level. Two hikers were at the picnic table at the highest spot. The Bob Rivers Bench was empty but wet. It was the second time I have seen it. It was brand new back on New Year's Eve. It was chilly and damp so we did not take a long break. By 9:42 am we were back on our way. We headed back the way we came to the junction with the One View Trail and turned right and uphill. We climbed up to the railroad grade and continued on the One View Trail. A little farther up we found a lot more lit up spider webs. These were some of the best ones I have seen while out on the trail. After starting up the One View, we had a lot of solitude. The next junction was the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). I completely missed the junction but it was quickly clear we were on the mostly flat TMT and no longer climbing up the spine of the One View ridge. It did not take long to reach the next junction. We turned uphill on the Hidden Forest Trail. It is steep at first and there is a big tree to duck under. It flattens out and then we reached the Main Tiger Mountain Road.
We were now above the low clouds though high clouds remained. There was a big patch of blooming coltsfoot alongside the road. We had a short food and water break before heading up the Poo Top Trail. As we started up a group of runners came up the Hidden Forest Trail. They started down the road then turned around and started up the Poo Top. They never caught up with us not due to our speed. The Poo Top is steep. I was starting to feel it. We popped out of the forest and reached the next junction with the towers of Tiger 1 right above us. We turned right on the Preston Trail up to the road. Mt. Rainier was not seen then or any time this day. East Tiger was visible with clouds moving towards the summit. We reached the road then went up the last bit to the summit at about 2950'. We had about 3000' of gain done. We arrived at 11:16 am, having covered about 6.5 miles. Views were almost non-existent. We saw a hiker going down the Preston Trail and a group coming up. That group headed down the ridge top road. Almost nobody does that. At 11:30 am we started down.
We followed our route back to the Poo Top junction and around Tiger 1 to the west side and the Hikers Hut. From there, we could see the route down and up to the top of Tiger 2. That was all we could see. There was a little sunshine in places coming from small sucker holes overhead. Down we went to the low point for our last steep climb of the day. On the way, I noticed a big patch of coltsfoot that was very pink. Better color than most. We reached the top of Tiger 2 at 12:01 pm. It as only noon and we had just 3.5 miles to go. Now we had a little sunshine but still no views out. I could see back to Tiger 1 and I could imagine where nearby Tiger 3 would be. Down we went to Tom's Crossing where we picked up the TMT again. The rest of the way down was easy hiking. We saw hikers off and on. It was never crowded. On the way, we saw one spring beauty in bloom. That was it for the day. At Ruth's Cove we saw some bright yellow skunk cabbage. In the last mile we saw a great display of turkeytail fungus. We reached my car at 2:06 pm.
I drove John the short couple of miles back to the Sunset Trailhead. For the day we hiked 11 miles with 3600' of elevation gain. It was the most gain I have had since the same hike on the last day of last year. It is always nice to have a one way trip, especially when the trailheads are so close together. The weather was not warm and clear but it was dry and it warmed up to about 60F at the finish. The wildflower show was not as good at Cougar a few days earlier but it was not bad. We had almost no views but that was expected. Our route provided some long sections with no other hikers. All in all, it was a fine day for an 11 mile hike.
 Oregon Grape |
 John & Mossy Arch |
 First Trillium |
 Bleeding Hearts |
 Mushrooms |
 Near Poo Poo Point |
 Salmonberry & Web |
 Damp Misty Forest |
 Bob Rivers Bench |
 What Visibility? |
 Back On The Trail |
 Wet Trillium |
 Many Yellow Violets |
 Fog Is Thinning |
 More Spider Webs |
 Double Webs |
 Last Spider Web |
 Bumpy Trail |
 John & Arch II |
 Lone Yellow Violet |
 Coltsfoot |
 Ascending Poo Top Trail |
 East Tiger Mountain |
 Tiger 1 Summit |
 A Little Sunshine! |
 Heading For Tiger 2 |
 Pink Coltsfoot |
 Looking Back To Tiger 1 |
 Tiger 3, Barely |
 A Lone Bird |
 Blue Sky |
 Westerlund Wiggle |
 Cascading Creek |
 Big Wild Ginger |
 Spring Beauty |
 Ruth Cove Skunk Cabbage |
 Close Up Skunk Cabbage |
 Jim & Skunk Cabbage |
 White Salmonberry |
 TurkeyTail Fungus |
 Another Angle |
 More Fungus |
 Better View |
 High Point Pond |
Trips - 2026
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