Preston TrailRecent Trip Reports
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Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown | Mudholes
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On Saturday, I did a long 12 mile loop around West Tiger Mountain. The promised sunshine never showed up, but...
On Saturday, I did a long 12 mile loop around West Tiger Mountain. The promised sunshine never showed up, but otherwise it was a fun hike. Even on a weekend, many of the more remote trails were remarkably uncrowded.
My route followed the Tiger Mountain Trail from the Tradition Lake trailhead to the K3 Trail. Took that up to the West Tiger RR Grade, which I followed all the way to the Preston Trail. Climbed the Preston Trail to the top, then followed the Bootleg Trail down to Paw Print Rest Stop. A short stint on the 15 Mile RR Grade Trail took me to the Tiger Mountain Trail, which I followed west for 3 miles to the One View Trail. This is one of my favorite Tiger trails. Hiked the One View down to the Poo Poo Point Trail, which I followed back to the Tradition Lake Plateau and home. Trail Conditions: TMT from trailhead to K3: Good to fair condition, a number of blowdowns including one annoying one near the start. Beyond the Cable Line, there is a steep stretch with narrow collapsed tread that could use work. Also, some tread collapse on the steep slope between the second bridge and K3. K3: Good condition. A steep trail, a little rough at the start, but in otherwise in good condition. One of those officially "unmaintained" trails that nevertheless seems to be well-maintained. W Tiger RR Grade from K3 to Preston Tr: In good condition. Overgrown with ferns in places. Past the TMT junction, the trail gets a bit sketchy through the landslide. The portion of trail between Fred's corner and the Preston Trail was extensively reworked and is in very good shape. Preston Trail to top of Bootleg Trail: In good shape. I've tried to keep the drainage on this trail in top notch condition, which has kept the trail's tread in good shape. Just a trace of snow near the top. The oversteep top portion could use rerouting. Bootleg Trail from top to Fifteen Mile Saddle: In good condition. Funky, rooty, narrow tread initially...looks like Harvey Manning might have last worked on it. The final descent down to the saddle is steep. Poaching by mountain bikes is a problem. Looks like a logging operation is going to occur in this area, so the future of the trail is unknown. Tiger Mountain Trail from Paw Print to One View: Good condition. Actively being rebuilt by the Issaquah Alps club. Sections already worked are very nice. A beautiful trail on the sunny side of the mountain, a treat to hike on. One View Trail: Good condition. Upper section is a bit steep, muddy and funky. Beyond the nameless summit, the trail gets much better as it descends to the Poo Poo Pt. trail. One stretch, however, is a bit overgrown with brush. I'm still looking for the one view. Poo Poo Point Trail (not to be confused with the Chirico trail): Good condition. I was happy to see fresh drainage work! The portion of the trail that follows an old logging road is always trying to become a stream bed, so it is important to keep the drain dips maintained. The steep upper part could use some reroutes in a few spots to reduce the grade. Then there is that permanent mud hole...when is that ever going to be properly fixed?
High Point Creek, Preston Trail, West Tiger Railroad Grade, Lingering Trail
— Nov 01, 2011
— whitebark
Day hike
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The forests of Tiger Mountain are aglow with fall colors. It's a nice time of year to get reacquainted with...
The forests of Tiger Mountain are aglow with fall colors. It's a nice time of year to get reacquainted with our local mountain. Here are some trail conditions that I found on my latest ramble on Tiger:
High Point Creek: This trail has received a lot of work in recent years, and is in great shape. Upper High Point Creek, TMT junction to Fred's Corner: More of an old school Tiger trail, this path is narrower and steeper than the lower High Point Creek trail. Still, it is in good shape. One long climbing section just beyond the Lingering Trail junction could use some drainage work. West Tiger RR Grade, east section: In good shape. Preston Trail, uphill from W.T. RR Grade to upper Bootleg tr junction: In good shape, a bit overgrown where this are some patches of salmonberry. Preston Trail, downhill from W.T. RR Grade In good shape, a bit overgrown-- except for the part of the trail built in an old skid road. As the trail approaches the lower Bootleg Tr. junction, the skid road becomes very steep and washed out. Logs have tumbled down into the trench, creating an obstacle course. This part of the trail should be rerouted out of the skid road. A logical thing to do is to relocate the Preston Tr/ Bootleg trail junction farther uphill on the Bootleg tr about 150 yards, to where it reaches an old RR grade (the Bootleg Tr levels out here). Then, cut a short new section of Preston Trail over to the current Preston Trail. This avoids the worst of the skid road trench. A fun little project for some trail crew! Preston Trail, from Bootleg junction to Dwight's Way junction: In good shape, although the skid road gets a bit steep on the final decent. Dwight's Way: In good shape. Lingering Trail, from Dwight's way to lower end: In good shape, though rather overgrown. Needs a long session with a weed whacker.
Tiger Mountain Trail, Poo Top, Poo Poo Point , Hidden Forest, Preston Trail, West Tiger Railroad Grade, High Point Creek
— Aug 20, 2011
— whitebark
Day hike
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I didn't feeling like driving a long way to hike today, so I decided to take a nice long (9...
I didn't feeling like driving a long way to hike today, so I decided to take a nice long (9 mile) hike on Tiger. As usual, once I got away from the popular trails around Tradition Lake, I saw few other hikers. There was a mob of cars parked at the end of the paved access road (cable line hikers and adventure pass evaders), but the inner trailhead lot still had lots of space even at 10:30 am (adventure pass needed to park here).
In general, the Tiger trails were in good shape, although I was surprised to see a number of blowdowns that had not been cut. As one would expect, the trails have dried out and have even become a bit dusty. Well, here's the rundown on trail conditions that I found on my long ramble: TMT from Tradition Lake to High Point Creek: In good shape. Steep climb beyond the Cable Line junction has sections of slumped tread, and a number of step-over blowdowns. Beyond the K3 junction, the trail is closed due to the damaged bridge over High Point Creek. This part of the trail is still quite hikeable, however. K3 Trail: Hikers have reported a bee nest on the trail High Point Trail from TMT to Fred's Junction: In good shape. I always enjoy hiking through the well-aged second growth forest here. Big, well spaced trees have the flavor of an old growth forest. W Tiger RR Grade from Fred's Junction to Preston Trail: In good shape. There is quite a durable spring that flows across the trail a quarter mile before the Preston Trail junction. Wonder if the water is drinkable? Preston Trail from W Tiger RR grade junction to upper Bootleg junction: In good shape. With this steeply inclined trail, maintenance of the drain dips is important. Someone should dig them out before the rainy season hits. Poo Top Trail: In good shape. Steep, narrow, old-school trail that is lightly used. If usage increases, this trail will have to be rebuilt. Hidden Forest Trail above TMT: In good shape. The lower portion is overly steep, needs rerouting with a reduced grade. One View Trail: In good shape. East end of the trail has a rooty, rough tread, and is steep in places. The west part of the trail has been rebuilt to a high standard, but sections are overgrown by brush. Poo Poo Point Trail: In good shape. One of the more heavily used trails on Tiger. Sections of the trail above the Many Creeks Valley bridge are excessively steep given the heavy usage, and could use rerouting. Below the bridge, drain dips need repair. This part of the trail is prone to erosion damage and needs good drainage. About 3/4 of the way up to Many Creeks Valley, there is a 100 foot section that gets a lot of runoff from a seasonal spring, and needs extensive tread repair and drainage features to remove water. Day hike
Issues:
Overgrown | Mudholes | Water on trail
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On this dreary day, we chose to hike to West Tiger #1, following the Preston Trail to the top and...
On this dreary day, we chose to hike to West Tiger #1, following the Preston Trail to the top and return by way of Bootleg. This was our first time on these trails.
Starting off Preston Road, the trail was partially grown over, making my legs quite wet (I left my gators at home). Once getting to the phone line road, we found the road to be made of 5 inch size rocks and slate for about a quarter mile. Walking up the rocks was like walking up a rocky creek. Parts of the trail were steep, being a challenge, but we still made it to the top. The only hiker we saw all day passed us on the steep uphill near the top. There was no view from the top of Tiger West 1 as the mountain was in the clouds all day. The blowing wind was cold, so we used the Hiker’s Hut for our break and snack before heading back. Going down we took Bootleg trail, which had more mud and water on the trails than did Preston. On the return we took the old Preston trail by-passing Dwight’s way. The trail did not connect to the new Preston trial as shown on my green map, resulting in our getting lost while we headed onto private land. Retracing our steps we found the right trail. The trail scenery was very good, as we enjoyed the birds, owls, ferns, and varying ground cover. Salmon berries are just getting ripe. The thimble berries are still a couple weeks away, but they are flowering and growing. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Today, I did a long, rambling 11 mile loop hike from the Preston WS-DOT trailhead to East Tiger summit and...
Today, I did a long, rambling 11 mile loop hike from the Preston WS-DOT trailhead to East Tiger summit and back. The weather was cloudy but at least there was no rain. Trilliums were blooming everywhere! Here's a summary of the trail conditions:
Preston Trail from WS-DOT to Lower Bootleg Junction: The short piece of path from the trailhead to the powerline corridor is in o.k. shape, though the adjacent landowner has dumped a bunch of construction waste near the trail. The powerline corridor portion of the Preston Trail still has the infamous layer of loose rock on it--annoying to walk on. Past the house with the chickens coop, the walking gets better. The section of Preston Trail beyond the power line corridor is in good shape as it climbs through a lovely second growth forest. A steep section is being reconstructed--hooray! Lower Bootleg Trail: This trail officially does not exist on the signs, but gets maintained and is in decent shape. Quite steep in places. Noticeable mountain bike poaching. Beautiful old second growth forest with huge mossy logs and stumps to look at. Bootleg Trail to 15 mile Creek Pass: This trail is well maintained by someone and is in good shape. Usage seems to have greatly increased in recent years and the path is now easy to follow. The steep grade beyond the Issaquah Creek crossing is beginning to erode, and eventually will need redesign. Damage from mountain bike poaching is noticeable. East Tiger Trail to Preston RR Grade: This is a crudely built trail that was once hard to follow, but usage has increased and it is now well maintained. New clearcuts around Soderman Creek have opened up views and brought some light to a once gloomy place. Beyond Soderman Creek there are a number of bad mudholes. Bike poaching is very persistent here (they may be the chief "users" of this trail). Upper East Tiger Trail (from Preston RR to E tiger summit road): Saying that there is a mountain bike poaching problem with this trail is like saying that Tibet has a Chinese poaching problem. The bikers have taken this trail over. It's a steep, eroded rut in a gloomy, dense second-growth forest. Blowdowns have been cut out. East Tiger summit road: Still some heavy drifts of snow in shaded areas! The snow pack here earlier in April must have been impressive. The summit is bare of snow. It was cloudy and chilly when I arrived at the summit picnic table, and I didn't linger long. Road 5500 ("Crossover Road") Still some snow lingering near Sally's Peak. Otherwise no problems walking on this road. A new road has been cut into the Beaver Valley, presumably for some logging operation. New mountain bike trails (legal) have been constructed near the lower end of the road. Silent Swamp Trail: Closed, being reconstructed. Lots of tools and materials for trail construction were stashed at the start of the trail. Road 7000: Logging has opened a few new views along this road. I followed the lower branch to private property in Preston and worked my my back to the WS-DOT trailhead. |
WTA worked here!
2011
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