Preston Trail, Bootleg
Mar 03, 2009
by
whitebark
—
last modified
Mar 03, 2009 08:33 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Preston Trail
- Region: Issaquah Alps -- Tiger Mountain
- Avg Rating: 3.00
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Bootleg
- Region: Issaquah Alps -- Tiger Mountain
- Trails: Bootleg (#TIGER)
- Avg Rating: 3.25
- Be Aware Of
- Mudholes
I did sort of a working hike on the Preston Trail today, taking along a lightweight shovel and Corona saw for fixing trail problems. I began the hike at the little-used Preston WS-DOT trailhead. If you are looking for some peace and quiet on Tiger Mountain, this is the place to go.
The Preston Trail first goes through a wooded area by the DOT facility, then pops out onto a power line corridor, which it follows for almost a mile. There is a good news/bad news situation with this part of the trail. The good news is that there are no longer any mudholes on the road underneath the powerlines; the bad news is that they fixed the mud problem by dumping large ankle-twisting rocks all over the road. It's an aggravating surface to walk on--fortunately the rocks end after a half mile.
The section of trail beyond the utility road is narrow and steep in spots and should be rebuilt eventually. However, I found no problems with brush, mud, or fallen logs.
Above the junction with the Lower Bootleg Trail, the Preston Trail follows an old logging road prone to drainage problems. I was ready to start fixing drainage problems here, but the extensive work done a few years ago by a trail crew has held up well; I found little to do. The steep, erosion-prone section of old logging road beyond Dwight's Way had survived the winter in fine style. Fallen logs had been cut.
The trail was in good shape all the way to the main Bootleg Trail junction at 1580'. Here, obvious erosion damage had occurred, but I did not investigate. Above the junction, the Preston Trail climbs steeply along a former log skid road. I would suggest rerouting the Preston Trail out of the skid road trench and instead have it join the Bootleg Trail a few hundred yards farther along, where the Bootleg Trail reaches an old railroad grade.
I knew that the Preston Trail was a lost cause here, so I followed the Bootleg Trail hoping to find something more reasonable to work on. There were signs of recent trail work here, too, cut blowdowns and brush. The Bootleg has been neglected in the past but was looking pretty good today. I rested briefly at the lovely spot where the trail crosses a fork of Issaquah Creek, then continued on. About a hundred yard beyond the creek, I rounded a corner and there it was: a big, nasty mud hole in the trail. Time to put that "Earth Shovel" to work!
Someone had cut a lot of small branches to create a funky puncheon bridge over the muck. But clearly more was needed to fix this mess. I spent an hour digging trenches to collect the water oozing from the hillside and divert it away from the trail.
After this bit of work, I realized that it was getting fairly late, so I head back to the WS-DOT trailhead. Along the way, I followed the unofficial Lower Bootleg Trail on the way down. It's an old school trail, narrow and windy but in good shape nevertheless. The well-aged second growth forest along the trail is quite beautiful. Massive logs and stumps remind one that as nice as the current forest is, it doesn't hold a candle to the former ancient forest that once grew here.
The Preston Trail first goes through a wooded area by the DOT facility, then pops out onto a power line corridor, which it follows for almost a mile. There is a good news/bad news situation with this part of the trail. The good news is that there are no longer any mudholes on the road underneath the powerlines; the bad news is that they fixed the mud problem by dumping large ankle-twisting rocks all over the road. It's an aggravating surface to walk on--fortunately the rocks end after a half mile.
The section of trail beyond the utility road is narrow and steep in spots and should be rebuilt eventually. However, I found no problems with brush, mud, or fallen logs.
Above the junction with the Lower Bootleg Trail, the Preston Trail follows an old logging road prone to drainage problems. I was ready to start fixing drainage problems here, but the extensive work done a few years ago by a trail crew has held up well; I found little to do. The steep, erosion-prone section of old logging road beyond Dwight's Way had survived the winter in fine style. Fallen logs had been cut.
The trail was in good shape all the way to the main Bootleg Trail junction at 1580'. Here, obvious erosion damage had occurred, but I did not investigate. Above the junction, the Preston Trail climbs steeply along a former log skid road. I would suggest rerouting the Preston Trail out of the skid road trench and instead have it join the Bootleg Trail a few hundred yards farther along, where the Bootleg Trail reaches an old railroad grade.
I knew that the Preston Trail was a lost cause here, so I followed the Bootleg Trail hoping to find something more reasonable to work on. There were signs of recent trail work here, too, cut blowdowns and brush. The Bootleg has been neglected in the past but was looking pretty good today. I rested briefly at the lovely spot where the trail crosses a fork of Issaquah Creek, then continued on. About a hundred yard beyond the creek, I rounded a corner and there it was: a big, nasty mud hole in the trail. Time to put that "Earth Shovel" to work!
Someone had cut a lot of small branches to create a funky puncheon bridge over the muck. But clearly more was needed to fix this mess. I spent an hour digging trenches to collect the water oozing from the hillside and divert it away from the trail.
After this bit of work, I realized that it was getting fairly late, so I head back to the WS-DOT trailhead. Along the way, I followed the unofficial Lower Bootleg Trail on the way down. It's an old school trail, narrow and windy but in good shape nevertheless. The well-aged second growth forest along the trail is quite beautiful. Massive logs and stumps remind one that as nice as the current forest is, it doesn't hold a candle to the former ancient forest that once grew here.
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