I hit the trail at 8am to do a big loop to work off my thanksgiving muffin top. I wasn't sure exactly how long I would actually go, but I did think about going up to East Tiger Mountain, at just over 3000' its the only peak in Tiger Mtn I've not been to. trail conditions: I ended up doing just over 20mi, and over 6,000ft of elev gain (according to my gps) there was no snow anywhere and only a couple blowdowns. Some muddy area's but not enough to mention. All in all a nice long hike. My GPS track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/410615947

Beautiful Day for a trail run along the Tiger Mountain Trail. We did the run point to point, starting from the South Trailhead along SE Tiger Mt road(which, turns out, is a little tough to find) and ending at High Point Trailhead. We had some initial navigation problems on the southern end of the trail, but got back on-track and enjoyed nice trail the rest of the way. Due to time constraints, we cut out a section of the TMT and took One View Trail and Poo Poo Point trail back to the parking lot. Trail conditions were ideal and we enjoyed sun up high and cool fog as we descended back to the parking lot. Fall colors were out in force!

My 10 year old son and I hiked the TMT from south to north on Saturday. The weather was great, and we had a good time. If you are considering hiking the TMT, be sure to bring a proper map. Particularly at the south end of the TMT, it can be difficult to ensure that you are on the right trail. While on the map it looks like it would be harder to stay on the TMT as you head north, it actually gets easier, because the signage gets better - at least in that direction. For us, the difficultly finding the trail started right at the trailhead. The trailhead at the south end is just a pull out on Tiger Mountain Rd, just above Issaquah-Hobart Rd. The trailhead itself is a little further up the road, to the right. It's easy to miss. The trail itself is mostly a slow climb through the woods to ~2500 ft, which given the grade is pretty easy. Although at 16 miles, it's pretty long. I found it less challenging than Mt Si which we hiked a couple of weeks earlier, but my son thought it was more difficult because it was so long. While we did enjoy most of the hike, large sections of the middle ~8 miles were very overgrown. This had both of us putting on long pants and long sleeve shirts in the middle of a hot day, to avoid getting scratched up. It can also be very slow going through the brush. I am glad that I had the extra clothes in our pack. One of the highlights of the middle section was "Dieter's Spring", right by the path. It was exciting for my boy to see a stream gushing right out of the ground like that, and it's something that I am sure he will remember for a long time. For me though, I thought the nicest section was at the end of the hike, as it winds through a bunch of streams and across a number of bridges, well beneath a high canopy. If you are looking for a nice, long hike, and don't mind push through the bushes sometimes, this one is for you.

Slowly working through my project to hike all the major Tiger Mountain trails so this morning Trail Dog Lucy and I set off to cover some of the lesser traveled trails on West Tiger. No specific plans but ended up taking the TMT to K-3 then South and East on the West Tiger Railroad Grade as far as the junction with the West Tiger #1 trail to the summit. Muddy in spots as expected but only a single blowdown which was easily by-passed. Thought about doing the extra 2 miles up and back to the top of WT #1 but, with a dark sky, rain and leaky boots I lost enthusiasm for that project and decided to save it for another nicer day. Lucy did not object... Rather than re-trace our path, we took the Preston trail down to Dwight's then over to High Point where we popped out and walked the road back to the car at the Traditions trailhead. Actually, found a great little trail connecting the gated entrance to the trailhead with the parking lot. Way better than walking the muddy and potholed road the last 1/2 mile. All in all trails are in pretty good shape. As mentioned muddy in spots and I should mention starting to get a bit overgrown where there is light traffic and space for vegetation to grow. At dog level not much of a view I expect. Met 3 hikers all day on the trails we traveled. Quite a contrast to the scene at the trailhead and on the West Tiger #3 trial. A great alternative for those looking for a more peaceful outdoor experience. About 7.7 miles and 1650 feet net gain at highest point. No photos today... forgot to charge the camera battery!

We had a great day with sun and mild temperatures to do our first conditioning hike of the season. The plan was to hike the loop and 'summit' South Tiger where the trail goes off by the smiling face stump. Our plans were altered by a change in roads due to recent logging in the area. Instead of doing South Tiger we walked up to a previously unvisited look out point with benches and a fire pit (2000 ft peak just north of South Tiger on the map). This proved to be a excellent view point for lunch with views of the Tiger Range, Squak Mt. and Cougar Mt. the Olympics and Cascades. This site can be found by following the road past the junction to the normal lunch sport toward the obvious hill. Where the road ends, a short steep trail to the viewing area (thanks to the recent logging) can be found. After lunch we headed back to the normal Traverse trail which now goes through some of the logged area before entering trees and then down to the powerline trail and back via the TMT to our cars. A great hike with no snow but lots of mud holes due to the recent rain and the fact the entire route is used and I believe maintained in part by the horse riding community. The lower trail had lots of trillium in bloom.