There were a few spots with kinda-deep mud on cable line, and on the TMT heading down the north side of the mountain. The connection from middle tiger to the road is pretty heavily overgrown now, and there's berries ripening on the bushes around there. Good day for a trail run.

I began my hike from the Middle Tiger Trail trailhead off the West Side Road by the DNR cement concrete bridge that goes over an unnamed creek. The trail goes up steeply for a short distance to the junction with the Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade trail. I took the left fork and hiked along the old logging railroad grade once used by Wood & Iverson when their lumber company logged the south section of Tiger Mountain from 1910 to 1932. They had two 3-truck geared Climax steam locomotives that pulled the log trains down to the sawmill at Hobart. The trail goes up a gentle grade and has shoofly trails that go upstream to get across small creeks at the locations of long gone railroad bridges. Further north on the trail I could see Fifteen Mile Creek down below. In one section the old railroad grade had slid out many years ago and a hiking trail had been built across the area. Then it was back to the old grade where a 2 inch wire rope from the old logging days follows along the trail. Right before getting to the junction with the connector trail that goes up hill to the TMT at Hal's Cove I came to a very wet/mud hole area. From the junction I continued on the old grade to where it comes to Fifteenmile Creek. This was the site of the big 1/4 mile long curved logging railroad trestle, now long gone. There is a log to help get across the creek, along with some slippery wet rocks. This trail goes back up hill and meets up with the 15 Mile RR Grade trail. I turned around here and headed back to the junction and hiked up the steep trail about 1/4 mile to the TMT at Hal's Cove. After taking a snack break, I hiked north on the TMT going uphill. When I got to the section of the trail where it starts switch backing down hill, I spotted DNR Timber Sale boundary signs stapled to trees just east of the trail. The trail heads down to cross over Fifteenmile Creek at Custer's Bridge built by the DNR back in 1985. It could use some new handrails as one side is missing and the posts are rotten. Then it was back up hill to the junction with the 15 Mile RR Grade trail. I turned right and hiked up the grade to Fifteen Mile Pass where it meets Road 4000 that goes up to West Tiger 1 and 2 summits. Across the road is the Paw Print Connector trail. The first 1/4 mile of this trail is now a DNR logging road. The picnic table shown on the GT Tiger Mtn. map at the pass is no longer there, but the toilet remains. I turned around at the pass and hiked back down a short ways and found a fallen alder to sit on for lunch in the sunshine. After lunch I hiked back down to the junction with the TMT and took it south across Custer's Bridge. I then met the first other hiker I has seen all day. He had hiked in from Tiger Summit off Highway 18. From Hal's Cove I hiked on the TMT up hill to Millan's Crossing and the junction with the Middle Tiger Trail. I took this trail back down hill (very steep in some sections) one mile out to the trailhead on the West Side Road. Met one other hiker on this trail. A young woman who said she was out on a 20 mile hike and planned on doing another 20 miler the next day. The trail part of my hike was 6 miles, plus 3.5 more walking on the West Side Road. You can't drive to the trailhead because of DNR's gate on the West Side Road at Tiger Summit off Highway 18. Trail Conditions: The trails I hiked had any large fallen trees cut out, except for one on the Middle Tiger Trail. The Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade Trail needs some brushing for salmon berry bushes and sword ferns, plus one big mud hole. The connector trail from the H-MTRRG Trail up to the TMT need's to be brushed out and is very over grown. The TMT from Hal's Cove to Custer's Bridge has four mud hole areas that need fixing. The Custer's Bridge needs new hand rails and posts. The 15 Mile RR Grade Trail is in good shape. The Middle Tiger Trail from Millan's Crossing down to the trailhead at the West Side Road has been bushed out. Treking poles were handy for steep sections of the trails I hiked and I used them to flick off many fallen branches. So if you are tired of the crowded trails on West Tiger 3, Si and Rattlesnake Ledge check out the trails on the south section of Tiger Mtn. and hike some trails less traveled. Get the GT Tiger Mtn. map and see all the trails you could hike. George

It was a good day for a trail run (or probably doing much of anything outside:). Starting from exit #20, High Point Way on I-90 I ran the following trails; High Point (After the dirty, somewhat gnarly roadside approach along I-90 this trail is wide, a bit muddy, and climbs steadily) Dwight's Way- Gentle up and down, very picturesque and in good condition West Tiger #1- decent condition, minimal brush Middle Bootleg- Still good condition until just at some regulatory boundary where a large amount of windfall covers the trail. Paw Print Connector- good condition 15 Mile Railroad Grade- Brushy and just a little hard to follow towards the end, otherwise a nice infrequently used trail over looking Fifteen Mile Creek. Hidden Forest Trail- steeper than the rest and needing some hedge clippers. Tiger Mountain Trail- many blowdowns from 15 Mile Gap to Manning's Reach, from there on in good condition. Lastly, High Point Trail again back to the car:) According to the map this is ~10 mile loop. The terrain is up and down but I estimate about 2500' gain. 3 hours RT.

As a trail runner, I've been inspired by the feats of Scott Jurek, especially given that he lived and trained in the Pacific Northwest as he took the trail running scene by storm. One of his famous runs is an out and back in the Tiger Mountain NF that he called the "Twelve Summits". Thirty four grueling miles, up and over the major summits in the area, and then back. I wanted to create my own training run in this area, but with less elevation gain, and in a "loop" as I am not a big fan of going over the same terrain twice. So armed with my trusty map, I left the Tiger Summit Trailhead at 0800 and got down to business. I won't get into a mile-by-mile, detailed account but just the concentrate on listing the trails used. I started on the Northwest Timber Trail (no obstacles) as I like a nice warm up before going up the hill. The two miles was a great start. At this point, I jumped on a newer trail, Joy Ride which is purposed more for bikers than hikers/runners. However, it is well built, easy to follow and has a gradual incline. Once I intersected with Fully Rigid Trail, I continued on it. Again, well built, gradual and it weaves it's way through some very interesting forest. A bit eerie even. This trail eventually intersects with East Tiger Summit. I followed this trail to it's intersection with East Tiger Summit Road and ascended that to the summit of East Tiger. Unsure of whether I would come back over this peak, I descended via the same road. In hindsight, I would've descended via the East Tiger Summit Trail since I did not come back over this terrain. I followed that road to the intersection of Road 4000, which I than ran to it's connection with the Preston Railroad Grade. I then followed that the short distance to it's junction with East Tiger Trail. This trail is pretty faint, and hasn't seen much traffic. But still easily ran. I followed East Tiger until the junction with Upper Bootleg (nice decorated tree here) and turned left and began to follow this trail towards Tiger I. I hit West Tiger and here is where the major obstacle of the day faced me. At the clearcut there, it appears as if WWI hit the trail. An amazing amount of trees are down across the trail. The trail itself for a hundred yards or so is decimated. I weaved my way over, under and around tree's. But if you are not comfortable doing this and taking some risks, I advise to stay away from this section. You could climb up to the road and continue on there. Once I hit the Hiker's Hut, I was on part of the Twelve Summits Route. I ran along to the summits of Tiger's II and III, the dropped down using West Tiger No. 3 trail. At the intersection with Talus Rock Trail, I turned left and followed that fun little trail to Nook, which took me down to the Bus Trail. I took a quick break at the High Point Trailhead (15.5 miles), then cut over on the Around the Lake to the Puget Power trail. I started my return journey by taking Adventure Trail to Poo Poo Point Trail. I power hiked this trail to the point and was able to enjoy watching some dudes leap off of it and float around for a bit. I then took the West Side to it's junction with Hidden Forest. This was steeper and more difficult then I anticipated and I was starting to bonk a bit. Fortunately, the terrain eases up when you hit the TMT which I followed to Fifteen Mile and it's junction with Rd 4000. I walked the 1.6 miles on this road, refueling to it's intersection with Preston RR (again). However this time I descended the full trail until it's junction with Road 7000. I was treated to the sun slowly setting as I followed this road back to Northwest Timber. I hit the parking lot and my car at 33.5 miles just as dusk hit. 8:45 total time. I have uploaded the route to Runkeeper for those interested. I have called it the "Easy Tiger 50k".

I set out early to do a long "no summit" ramble in the Tigers, hiking completely around West Tiger without setting foot on any of the three numbered summits. (I've been to them many times.) I took the High Point Trail up to the main Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT,) turned left and followed the TMT for some distance, crossing the ridge between W. Tiger #2 and #3 and continuing on to Larry's Crossing and the intersection with the Hidden Forest Trail. I descended the Hidden Forest Trail about 0.2 miles, dropping 400 feet, and located the faint trace of the 15-Mile RR Grade entering from the left (no trail signs there.) I hiked it east to its intersection with the TMT near Custer's Bridge, then headed back north, following the Paw Print Connector and Bootleg Trails, and Dwight's Way, back to the High Point Trail, a total distance about 10.5 miles. On the TMT, beyond Fred's Corner, I came to the spot where I expected to see a larger bridge crossing High Point Creek. Surprise, it wasn't there! Only a couple of concrete buttresses and a single bent steel beam remain. Not sure if it was a catastrophic failure, or whether it's just being replaced as a precaution. I'm accustomed to seeing that other bridge, a half-mile or so downstream, where the TMT again crosses High Point Creek. That one, flood-damaged and tilted, has been signed "unsafe" for some time. But the upper bridge had always seemed secure to me, and it was firmly in place as recently as early April when I last hiked this trail. Fortunately, with High Point Creek as low as it was today, the "chasm" is easy enough to scramble across (poles may be helpful.) It's been a wet year with some warm days, and the flowering botanicals all are responding accordingly: vanilla leaf, fringe cup and youth-on-age are taller than I've ever seen them in the Tigers; Canadian dogwood is starting to bloom, as is star-flowered Solomon's seal; a few yellow violets and bleeding hearts remain. But trilliums are long gone and the coltsfoot is in seed. The vigorous growth of vegetation is encroaching on parts of some trails. This was particularly true along the 15-Mile RR Grade. I recalled the first 100 yards of that trail - from a hike last year - being somewhat rudimentary and overgrown, but this year the vegetation has run wild over the first half-mile. In places the moist growth was so thick I couldn't see my feet, and head-high salmon berry and a few nettles made for a prickly passage. (For compensation, a few berries were ripe.) There were a few muddy sections along the RR Grade, and I noted an occasional lone footprint as evidence I was not the only hiker to brave this route. The RR Grade reaches a wash where a branch of 15-Mile Creek is subject to flooding and a low bridge was destroyed a few years ago. Some work has started on a new bridge, but it has a long way to go. There was no one working at the site today and I don't know what the schedule or budget may be to finish the job. Metal and wood construction materials are cached just across the creek - easily stepped across now - but much of that material was already in place a year ago. The RR Grade beyond the bridge site is clear of vegetation, and tracks indicate a very small ATV was used to move material to the construction site. The RR Grade soon merges with the TMT, and I took the two-minute side trip south on the TMT for a pleasant lunch break next to the creek at Custer's Bridge. I returned to the RR Grade and followed it to the crossing of the Tiger Mountain utility road where the trail changes names to Paw Print Connector. This is the site of the former Paw Print Rest Stop that was bulldozed a few months ago. It's no longer suitable for a lunch break, but the Clivus toilet still is there, unlocked and usable (no paper.) The bulldozed spur road is not (yet) being used for logging access, and is rather unsightly. Fortunately, it quickly leads back to the trail. I completed my loop via the Bootleg Trail and Dwight's Way. It was a great day to be out, sunny with pleasant temperatures and no bugs. Trails were moist, but there was very little mud except along the 15-Mile RR Grade. I saw no large critters today, and I enjoyed having the trails completely to myself.