Tiger Mountain Trail: South, South Tiger Traverse

The sky cleared rapidly, and by mid-morning the opportunity seemed too good to pass up. So my hiking buddy Marin (formerly known as "Blue Towel") and I gathered our gear and set out toward Issaquah.

We found the trailhead off Tiger Mountain Road SE. There, south of SE 175th Place, a wide shoulder along the west side of the road offers parking while the main Tiger Mountain Trail, the "TMT," begins across the road.

The trail was moist, sometimes muddy. There were occasional horse plops, although we saw no riders today. In about a mile, the horse trail detours east around a knoll. The foot trail stays west and traverses a steep hillside, where a small sign decorated with bright plastic flowers proclaims "Calkin's Cliff." The horse and foot trails rejoin at Hobart Gap.

Traces of snow began to appear off the trail and became more prominent after we crossed under a power line. We continued north on the TMT, passing around the east side of South Tiger Mountain and, about 3.5 miles from the trailhead, we noted the intersection with the South Tiger Traverse - here a gravel road - our intended return route. First, as in previous years, we continued another 0.1 mile north, just short of the West Side Road, where we located the faint, unmarked trail heading west toward tiny Otter Lake. A year ago we could hear the chorus of frogs as we approached the lake. This year, there was more snow and only silence.

We returned to the Traverse (road) and climbed a bit. At the top of the rise, we took the short side trail up to the "Hapke Memorial Lunch Area," then descended and found the Traverse continuing across the road as an actual trail.

For a while, the route passes through a logged-over area before regaining the forest. We passed the big stump with the whimsical smiling face that flags the unofficial trail up South Tiger Mountain. But we had done that side trip before and found there is no view, so we elected to skip the minor "summit" this time.

A couple of muddy switchbacks brought us back to the power line, and a short section of gravel road returned us to Hobart Gap, whence we returned to the trailhead.

The season is early for wildflowers, although we did see a bit of white currant. Also, we noted several white buds of trilliums, and were alerted by a pair of other hikers to a couple of open trilliums, the first we have seen this year.

This was a good early season hike, about 7 miles round trip with about 1,300 feet of elevation change. The trails were uncrowded (we saw four other hikers) and trail conditions, by Northwest standards, were not bad.