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 sunny day for a ramble in the Tigers, beginning at the Tiger Summit Trailhead off Highway 18. At the turnoff, the area is heavily potholed but there were only a few bumps on the gravel road continuing on 0.3 miles to the trailhead parking lot where, at 7:15 a.m., I was pleasantly surprised to find I was the first one there. I set off on the Iverson RR Trail, noting a lot of false lily of the valley in bloom along with a few blooms of foamflower, bleeding heart, avens and miner's lettuce. There was even an odd tardy trillium, although most of its kin dropped their petals and finished flowering a few weeks ago. In a mile and a half, the Iverson Trail drops back down to join the West Side Road and I knew I would have a bit of a road walk ahead. After a quick 0.3 miles on the road, I passed the trail crossing for the main Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) that would provide my return loop. For now, I continued on the road another 1.6 miles, first climbing a hundred feet, then dropping four hundred feet with some switchbacks before coming to a creek crossing. Formerly it was just a large culvert, but in the two years since I last hiked this route it's been replaced by a heavy-duty concrete-deck bridge, I suppose to support the passage of an occasional logging truck. As a result of the bridge construction the trailhead I was seeking is less visible than before, but it's just upstream of the bridge. A newish metal sign proclaims "Middle Tiger Trail" and, just above it on the signpost, the original wooden sign - surely one of the most weathered in the Tigers - acknowledges that it's also the way to the Hobart - Middle Tiger RR Grade. In 0.1 mile, with some uphill, I came to the not-quite-so-weathered sign for the Hobart - Middle Tiger RR Grade. The sign even notes it's 1.4 miles to the site of a "curved trestle," but I knew it would only be the site, and that nothing remains of the trestle today. The RR grade continues gently uphill, and grasses bordering the trail made for a damp walk - my pants cuffs soon were soaked. Also, a few low salmon berry bushes lean in over the trail, and it would be a bit prickly for any hikers wearing shorts. There were lots of fringe cup in bloom (such as it is) along with its cousin youth-on-age, as well as all the flora I had noted already along the Iverson Trail. After a mile or so I begin to hear the sounds of Fifteenmile Creek down below, and about 1.7 miles from the West Side Road I noted the connecting trail heading uphill to the east. There's a small sign with an arrow pointing straight up, indicating "TMT 1/4." But first I continued on the RR Grade another 0.1 mile, where the trail comes down to the creek itself. It's a pleasant stopping place for a snack. (An ongoing trail continues on across the creek, climbing toward the Fifteen Mile RR Grade. That trail is not shown on the Green Trails map, but is shown on the NW Topo map I use with my GPS. But that's for another hike, and it was not my route for today.) After a leisurely creek-side break I backtracked 0.1 mile to the connecting trail with its arrow pointing straight up. The arrow is a great exaggeration of course. The route is steep but not vertical, and is easily followed to reach the TMT just north of Hal's Cove. I returned south on the TMT, a familiar route I'd hiked many times. One minor change I noted is that the missing commemorative sign at Zieg’s Zag had been replaced. From the West Side Road, I returned to my trailhead the way I'd come via the Iverson RR Trail. Trail conditions today were generally good. There were only a few blowdowns, all easily stepped over or ducked under. Trails were moist, but only occasionally muddy. My total distance was about 10 miles, with an elevation change (max-min) of about 700 feet. I encountered only three other hikers, all near Karl's Gap on the TMT. Otherwise, I had the trails all to myself. Surprisingly, I encountered no bikers, although their tracks were evident along the Iverson RR Trail (where bikers are permitted) and, to a lesser extent, along the TMT (officially closed to bikers.)

A sunny day was predicted but a cloud cap hung over Swauk Mountain, with some cloud blowing off toward the Tigers. I started my long hike under cloud cover at the south end of the main Tiger Mountain Trail, the TMT, at an elevation of 560 ft. A pity DNR doesn't give us access with parking to the 15 Mile Creek Trailhead. That would have made this a much shorter day. But I didn't want to improvise on parking in Mirrormont, and I was determined to hike two trails that were new to me, the Hobart - Middle Tiger RR Grade and the lower segment of the Middle Tiger Trail, both reached from the West Side Road (Road 1000.) The TMT seemed a more appealing approach route than the Tiger Summit alternative, although with more elevation gain. The TMT took me past Carkins Cliff (no longer signed) to Hobart Gap (signed) then on NE, crossing under the power line and continuing around the eastern flank of South Tiger with an almost constant uphill slope to reach the West Side Road, about 3.6 miles from my TMT trailhead. This part of the road must get little traffic - there was none today - and the gravel is small-sized, not unpleasant to walk on. The road climbs about 100 ft, then drops about 400 ft on a steady, gentle grade. The clouds blown over from Swauk still provided cover, and it was cool. I knew, on my return, it would be warmer and uphill, and the slope would seem less gentle. Here and there along the road pathways come up from the downhill side, a sign that locals have established routes of their own. I continued on the road 1.6 miles to the combined trailhead for the Hobart - Middle Tiger RR Grade and Middle Tiger trails, identified by a very weathered sign. A few yards steeply uphill, at an equally weathered sign, the trail splits. I took the left fork for the Hobart - Middle Tiger RR Grade. Despite the weathered signs the trail itself was in reasonably good condition, and a few boot prints showed it does get some regular use. It seemed much less overgrown than the 15 Mile RR Grade across the canyon on the north side of the creek. This RR Grade starts out fairly dry but becomes moister as it works its way up the canyon and approaches the creek. At 1.6 miles I noted a small sign, "TMT 1/4," with a small arrow pointing straight up. I passed it for now, and the RR Grade continued on another hundred yards or so, with a bit of mud, to end at the edge of Fifteen Mile Creek, a pleasant lunch stop and presumed former site of a curved wooden trestle, now long gone. (There were hints a boot path might continue across the creek, but I did not investigate it today.) After my lunch stop, with the sky clearing, I backtracked to the TMT sign and headed up the indicated way. The vertical arrow on the sign was somewhat exaggerated. The route was steep, but not that bad, There was an occasional muddy section. Soon, I found myself on familiar ground, the TMT, about 0.7 miles south of Custer's Bridge. I followed the TMT south 1.2 miles, climbing slightly to my high point for the day at Millan's Crossing (2180 ft) and the intersection with the Middle Tiger Trail. I headed down the Middle Tiger, sometimes quite steeply. I was glad not to be hiking this trail uphill. It was 0.9 miles back to the trailhead along the West Side Road, from which I returned to my beginning trailhead the way I had come. Total mileage for the day was about 14 miles, with an elevation difference (highest minus lowest) of about 1,600 ft. It was an enjoyable hike, with mostly good trail conditions and, amazingly, I had the trails and road completely to myself.

Nice hike on a cool, damp Sunday morning. Stepped out of the car just before 7am on Tiger Mtn Dr SE and got hit with the last raindrop of the day. Arriving under sun at 11am return. Walked in shorts..... BEWARE: The nettles are out in-force. This slowed me down and left a few interesting welts. Wear long pants! Walked the TMT until it linked up with the Iverson RR up near Otter Lake (a major clearcut). We then ate lunch and proceeded to try and find the S. Tiger Traverse trail. But, unfortunately, the sign was down at the fork in the road (post sticking up out of rock pile). (UTM coordinates--with NAD27 datum--of 10T 0578146E 5257141N) We needed to go right but went left on an uncharted road (at least uncharted on Green Trails 204S). We walked almost to the top of South Tiger Mountain before retracing our steps, going right at the rock pile and picking up the trail to our left about 50-70 yards on an access road. (The trail is just to the left of a sign pointing to a picnic area on your right.) The Traverse trail was our favorite part of the trip, as it winds through gorgeous old growth. We finally linked up again with the TMT at Hobart Gap then saw our first new hikers of the day--almost 4 hours since leaving our car. Salmonberries are starting to appear.

Almost every New Years Eve I do a hike on Tiger Mountain. This tradition began in 1983, my second year of regular hiking. Since then I have only missed one New Years Eve hike. After two hikes the previous three days I was a bit tired. Gary came up with a challenging trip from the far south to the north side of Tiger. It visited three summits. With snow at higher elevations it would be tough to get in the full route in daylight. I signed on. I met Gary and John at High Point on the north side. We drove around to the south side. This would be a one way trip. Just a few minutes into the trip we passed a lone hiker. That was it for the next 8.5 hours. It had been ten years since Gary and I had been to the Grand Canyon of Fifteen Mile Creek. We each had an idea of the route on the unofficial boot path that goes up to the Hobart Railroad Grade. It was not how we remembered it. Our journey was off to an interesting beginning. The trail is in fine shape up the Grand Canyon. The canyon narrows greatly as we proceeded. Soon the tread was much worses than we recalled. A trail headed off uphill but it was not the one we had done before. We continued to where the narrow tread dropped to the creek. Into the creek. This was very different than ten years earlier. Our GPS maps showed the route going up the creek for a ways farther before heading uphill. We were not anxious to go knee deep wading up the creek at the start of a long hike. We backtracked. It is very steep to get out of the canyon. Several possibilities did not look promising. We ended back at the first trail we had seen. It quickly turns straight uphill. The lip of the canyon proved to be a real scramble but we made it up onto the ridge. No signs of a trail, or a boot path. Some brush, forest, and downed logs. The map showed that following the ridge up would bring us to the Hobart grade. Up we went. By this time we had spent nearly an hour and not gone far. The ridge was slow and tiring but not too bad. There are ribbons up there but no tread. We finally hit a trail. It was the old trail Gary and I have done several times before coming up from the creek. Our junction was just a few yards before the railroad grade. It was 9:50 when we reached the grade. It took us 1.5 hours to hike 2.3 miles. The route finding and off trail bushwhacking put us well behind schedule. We still had a long way to go. On the positive side, we were back on trail. Near the start we saw a strange bright white fungus of some type. It had many thin tendrils. Along the Hobart grade we saw much more of it. If I've seen it before I do not recall. The grade was much faster. A little muddy in places but no downed logs to crawl over. Now at 1575' we saw patches of snow. We were still more than 1400' below our intended high point. We allowed for the possibility of missing East Tiger Mountain if the snow was too soft and we ended up with a lot of deep post holing on the road sections where the snow would be deepest. Although our next destination Middle Tiger Mountain was right above us, the route took us far to the north then back to the south. Along the grade we noticed one old cable spanning a ravine. John showed us his high wire act, such as it was. From the Hobart grade we had .25 miles uphill to reach the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). At the TMT we turned to the right. The TMT is a fine trail but not as flat as the railroad grade. Lots of ups and downs. From the Hobart Grade on we saw footprints in most of the snow patches. I was surprised to see them in these lesser visited parts of Tiger. Especially in the winter. At the Middle Tiger junction we took a short break. Although we were at about 2150' it was a few degrees above freezing. Warmer than we had planned for. The half mile trail up Middle Tiger was mostly bare at the bottom but soon was fully snow covered. Not enough footprints to polish it to an icy surface. We had fine traction. We reached the Middle Tiger summit at 11:30 pm. Just about five miles into our day. five hours of daylight left but still a long way to go. We descended from Middle Tiger to the logging spur below. We knew that once out of the forest the snow would be deeper. Just how soft it would be would determine whether we could reach East Tiger or detour directly to West Tiger 1. At the bottom of the trail is a wooden gate to keep out bikes and horses. It is the narrowest one I have ever seen. I had to know if beanpole Gary could fit through. Much to my surprise he did though even he had to turn a little to fit. As expected the snow was now several feet deep. There were some post holes from a hiker who had passed through when the snow was much softer. For the most part it held our weight. John and I had more problems with sinking knee deep or more. It was tiring but not as bad as I feared. After the unexpected bushwhacking I did not need more extra tiring travel. If the main road was even softer that would probably rule out East Tiger for me. Soon enough we reached the road coming from Tiger Summit on Highway 18. There were tracks on it. Nicely compacted and firm tracks. This was a game changer. No more post holing. Much easier travel. Up we headed towards East Tiger Mountain. One can follow the road all the way around East Tiger and up to the summit. This is much longer than we had time for. Instead we left the road in the vicinity of the Preston Railroad Grade. We slogged up the steep slope directly towards the summit. The snow was much softer in the forest. Much deeper too. This was slow going but not a great distance. We were all pleased to reach the road just below the 3004' summit. In a short time we were on top. One great thing about the day was a total lack of wind. it was cold but not as bad as it might have been. Since my last visit the DNR folks have put up an information board with a full map of Tiger and all the trails. We had some of our lunch on Middle Tiger and more of it on East Tiger. It was 12:54 and we were 7 miles into our trip. We still had half the distance to cover and only 3.5 hours. It had take a little over 4.5 hours so far. On the positive side, we had gained 2700'. There was much less to gain the rest of the way. Now came the most important bit of navigating. The East Tiger Trail over to the Christmas Tree near Tiger 1 is a sketchy trail in the summer. It would be completely under snow this day. We used our GPS units extensively to find our way. It worked well as we reached the Preston Railroad Grade right at the junction with the East Tiger Trail. The snow was less deep now and we could see cut logs and figure the trail location much better. There are also a number of paint spots on trees to help with navigation. We continued to drop to the 2180' low point. A little climbing brought us to the junction with the Paw Print Trail. A few minutes later we were at the Christmas Tree. Just 12 days earlier we did a headlamp hike there in non stop rain. Much nicer this day. We picked up a filled balloon a few minutes earlier and added it to the Christmas Tree. It was now 2:48 pm. Just under two hours of daylight left. We could take the Bootleg Trail directly down as we did on the headlamp hike. We could continue another 1.2 miles uphill to the summit of 2948' West Tiger 1. I was beat . We chose to head up. We saw no footprints on the East Tiger Trail but we had them on the Bootleg. No need for GPS navigation. Climbing another 650' on snow was a pain. It was slow. Up we went. At the junction with the Preston Trail is became flatter. Just three days earlier I came up the Preston Trail and had to kick a trail in deep snow the last short way to the summit. This day there was a packed track. I turned around almost immediately and headed down. The others had another short food break. We met up again at the Preston Trail junction. this route was much more packed down than on Friday. It was a bit slick too. Might have stopped to but on traction devices but we chose to slide on down. I was surprise that nobody took a tumble. We made very good time downhill. The snow was getting thin at Fred's Corner and disappeared once off the old High Point Trail. Back on the smooth TMT in forest without snow we sped up more. The battle was on to see if we could make it out before darkness forced us to take out our headlamps. We just made it. On Saturday I finished hiking at Wallace Lake at 5:05. This day we reached the car at 5:08. Dark but not quite pitch black. I drove back to the south side of the mountain to Gary's car. This was probably the most ambitious and likely the most fun New Years Eve Tiger hike so far. It was definitely the most tiring. Per John's and my GPS units it looks like we hiked about 14 miles with 3800' of gain. Since we started higher than we finished we had over 4000' of descent. Lots of snow, a little unplanned bushwhacking, some careful navigation, good friends, led to a heck of a great New Years hike! I have posted 36 photos on my website located at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips - 2012" on the left margin.