Beautiful mountain to hike and quite the maze of trails for one to adventure. We started out on the Bus Trail for a hot minute, veered off on Tiger Mountain Trail, and continued onward over a few bridges. The trail started declining so we decided to head up to the unmaintained trail. Hiked that for a while and followed signs to continue on the Tiger Mountain Trail. 5.5 miles later, we were eager to get to summit and luckily ran across a sign pointing us to just that - West Tiger 3 Summit @ 2700 ft. In fact, got there just in time to see some sky divers! NOTE: We bypassed the TMT Cable Trail as it was straight up to summit, not as scenic, rocky, and unmaintained. This was a great cardio workout trail. Especially when we veered of of the TMT for a bit. Enjoy!

Taking advantage of the glorious Saturday weather, I enjoyed a fine ramble on Tiger. Most snow is gone below 2000', but some heavy drifts may linger on the north slopes of the highest summits. Here are the trail conditions on this long loop around West Tiger Mountain: Tiger Mountain Trail, Tradition Lake to K3: Mostly in good shape, lots of new tread work visible, especially beyond the Cable Line crossing. The switchbacks are in much better shape now. There is still some narrow slumped trail beyond the twin bridges (approaching the K3 junction). Note the pretty waterfall below the second bridge - it might be nice to build a short spur down to the creek and create a viewing spot with a bench. K3 Trail: Officially unmaintained, steep, but otherwise in good condition up to the West Tiger RR grade. W Tiger RR Grade, K3 to east end at Preston Trail: Fair shape, tread a little overgrown and slumped. The crossing of the slide area could use work (but maybe it is good to wait for the slope to stabilize before doing any major work). Slide area to High Point tr junction (fred's corner) has a few blowdowns. Beyond Fred's Corner the trail is in good shape, having been recently reworked. Preston Trail and North RR Grade: At the end of the W Tiger RR Grade,, I descended the Preston Trail about a quarter mile then at a sign indicating "Preston Trail" turned right onto the unofficial N Tiger RR Grade Trail. Following yet another old RR grade, this route has a number of fallen trees and is hard to follow in a few spots where it crosses marshy areas. Still this route is a useful connector between the Preston Trail and Bootleg trails. Perhaps it could be made a bit more official some day. Bootleg Trail, N Tiger RR Grade to Paw Print Connector at Fifteen Mile Pass Cleared of blowdown, a bit muddy and snowy in a few spots. The Preston Poacher is still riding his mountain bike down the trail, judging by the tracks. Probably the same guy who has built an unauthorized trail that connects with the lower Bootleg trail at about the 1300' level so he can get down to Preston faster. I wonder who is giving him rides to Tiger Summit for his poaching expeditions? Paw Print Connector: In good shape, the last remnants of snow are melting away. Toilet at Paw Print Rest Stop looks good inside, but there is no toilet paper. Tiger Mountain Trail from Paw Print to One View; One of my favorite Tiger trails, remote, with a nice wilderness feel. Uncrowded even on a sunny Saturday. Much of the trail has been recently improved by the Issaquah Alps Club and is in great shape, although there is one annoying new blowdown part way along. One View Trail: Unusually muddy, especially on the trail's poorly-built east end. Usage seems to be increasing of late. This trail could use some trail crew love, and even a reroute that would contour around the 2267' high point. Poo Poo Point Trail: One of the more popular Tiger Trails, pretty busy on Saturday. In good shape and free of blowdown, at least to the big Many Creeks Valley bridge. The section above Many Creeks Valley is steep and muddy, and could use some rebuilding/ rerouting to a lower gradient. I love the grove of big, old growth trees part way up.

I set off on a solo trek on Tiger at 11am on a Tuesday. There were only a handful of cars in the High Point/Tradition Lake parking lot. I passed a couple of dog-walkers who looked curiously at me-- probably because I was dressed for snow.... and it was a good thing I was! Snow level was low today, so this was more of a snow-venture than I had expected. I first headed towards the Bus Trail, and took the Nook Trail off to the left. The Nook Trail was in good condition with no problems, I was able to go quite quickly along it and up onto the mountain. Someone has dug new drainage along the trail in several key locations to avoid the trail becoming a stream in heavy rainfall. After passing the Talus "Caves" (considering these caves is admittedly generous) I continued on the connector trail to the Tiger #3 summit trail, bypassing the Section Line Trail (which was probably a mistake overall). The connector trail was in OK condition, with some muddy sections. No real problems. I passed a couple who looked very tired, asking if they were on the right path for the caves, luckily they were. (probably a case of "could a 1/2 mile possibly be THIS long?!) At the end of the trail is a junction that is currently not signed. Someone has scribbled on the post that probably had the sign before-- talus caves one way, tiger #3 summit the other way. I continued towards the summit of #3 for another mile, the way becoming increasingly snowy, and occasionally icy--I was glad to have traction devices in my pack for this situation-- to the junction with the West Tiger RR Grade #3 trail, which is not clearly marked as such. There is a sign stating that the summit is .9miles beyond-- the RR grade is a small unsigned trail leading off the switch back. At this point the trail became true snow (1-4 inches, depending on location), with few footprints along the way. The RR grade is in terrible condition, as well as I could tell through the snow. It's a relatively flat trail (aside from a few somewhat difficult stream crossings) but it was very difficult to travel. There are numerous blowdowns of all sizes-- some right in the middle of the trail. None are too difficult to get around, but the going is very slow because of the blowdowns. I passed the junction with the Section Line trail, deciding that the RR grade might improve... I was wrong. Condition worsened from this point with the blowdowns, as well as areas where large mud puddles appear to have lightly frozen on the top, then snow on top of that-- so I fell through the ice into a few inches of mud/water on several occasions. Areas where you are near water are most suspect in this respect. Some of the blowdowns require the decision of over vs under- picked the wrong answer once and bonked my head pretty well- dropping my map out of my pocket. I soon reached the junction with the Poo Poo Point/One View Trail and realized my map was gone. A 20 minute backtrack, and map-in-hand I headed up the One View Trail. The One View trail is lovely, and I think I caught the one view too :) (over towards the Summit #2). It's in good condition, easy to follow and free of blow-downs (a couple tiny ones not worth worrying over). The uphill grade is moderate (300ish feet in 3/4 mile). I was so glad after the RR grade! at "15 Mile Gap" I met up with, and continued onto the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). This stretch of the TMT appears little traveled recently as there was only one set of footprints in the snow, and several animal tracks. Even so, there was no problem telling where the trail was meant to be, and it was easy travelling with my traction spikes. Lovely fresh snow, fragrant coniferous trees. Just beautiful. Unlike most trails I've traveled on Tiger, TMT is frequently signed as such :) The trail climbs a bit through a few switchbacks over 1.5 miles of trail when you meet the junction at Manning's Reach. At the major junction here (signed elevation 2500 feet) you can continue straight ahead on the TMT, right to Summit #2 or left to Summit #3. There was much less snow at this point and the trail was clear aside from being compacted ice in areas. I continued left to Summit #3, which isn't far away-- just a quick downhill, and then up the switchback to the Summit. The wind was starting to blow hard at the summit as I headed down the Tiger #3 trail, not unexpected-- but I did feel sorry for the man I saw hiking up in a T-shirt! I highly recommend traction devices on the trail headed towards summit #3. I kept mine on for about 1/2 the way down, taking them off near where I put them on initally. I stayed on the Summit #3 trail back to the Tradition Lake parking area, which I reached at 3pm. Hiking time 4 hours Total mileage (estimated) 11.5 miles Overall a good day, but I'd caution folks 1) avoid the RR grade or at least expect slow going 2) traction devices really helpful above about 1,500 elevation-- at least today.

Found!! One Sony Camera out on Tiger Mountain Trail. Please call me if you lost the camera so I can get it back to you! 317-364-2284

I didn't feeling like driving a long way to hike today, so I decided to take a nice long (9 mile) hike on Tiger. As usual, once I got away from the popular trails around Tradition Lake, I saw few other hikers. There was a mob of cars parked at the end of the paved access road (cable line hikers and adventure pass evaders), but the inner trailhead lot still had lots of space even at 10:30 am (adventure pass needed to park here). In general, the Tiger trails were in good shape, although I was surprised to see a number of blowdowns that had not been cut. As one would expect, the trails have dried out and have even become a bit dusty. Well, here's the rundown on trail conditions that I found on my long ramble: TMT from Tradition Lake to High Point Creek: In good shape. Steep climb beyond the Cable Line junction has sections of slumped tread, and a number of step-over blowdowns. Beyond the K3 junction, the trail is closed due to the damaged bridge over High Point Creek. This part of the trail is still quite hikeable, however. K3 Trail: Hikers have reported a bee nest on the trail High Point Trail from TMT to Fred's Junction: In good shape. I always enjoy hiking through the well-aged second growth forest here. Big, well spaced trees have the flavor of an old growth forest. W Tiger RR Grade from Fred's Junction to Preston Trail: In good shape. There is quite a durable spring that flows across the trail a quarter mile before the Preston Trail junction. Wonder if the water is drinkable? Preston Trail from W Tiger RR grade junction to upper Bootleg junction: In good shape. With this steeply inclined trail, maintenance of the drain dips is important. Someone should dig them out before the rainy season hits. Poo Top Trail: In good shape. Steep, narrow, old-school trail that is lightly used. If usage increases, this trail will have to be rebuilt. Hidden Forest Trail above TMT: In good shape. The lower portion is overly steep, needs rerouting with a reduced grade. One View Trail: In good shape. East end of the trail has a rooty, rough tread, and is steep in places. The west part of the trail has been rebuilt to a high standard, but sections are overgrown by brush. Poo Poo Point Trail: In good shape. One of the more heavily used trails on Tiger. Sections of the trail above the Many Creeks Valley bridge are excessively steep given the heavy usage, and could use rerouting. Below the bridge, drain dips need repair. This part of the trail is prone to erosion damage and needs good drainage. About 3/4 of the way up to Many Creeks Valley, there is a 100 foot section that gets a lot of runoff from a seasonal spring, and needs extensive tread repair and drainage features to remove water.