We started at main High Point TH. We started as if we were going up West Tiger 3 but immediately after we went through the wooden trail gate thingy we took the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) on the left. This trail was muddy because of the rain but had way less people. Soon is crosses the Cable Line Trail. Make sure you do not turn onto the Cable Line, but continue across it on the other side. The trail soon goes up multiple switchbacks and then wraps around to the other side of the ridge and levels out, going south. This is probably the most beautiful section of trail in the entire forest. The trees have some moss and the forest is really peaceful and nice. The trail was not as muddy here and there was no one else but us. My dad agreed that this was the best section of trail that we have been on, and we have been on a lot of different trails in Tiger Mountain State Forest. The trail then crosses a couple of creeks on some nice bridges and then heads north on the other side of the creeks. Just after the second bridge we came up to the junction with the K-3 Trail that goes up to the right, about 2 miles from the TH. We took that trail .5 miles to the junction with the West Tiger RR Grade. From there we crossed the RR Grade Trail continued straight up the hill about .2 miles more to a junction with the TMT, which is the trail that we originally started on. We turned right and went uphill for about .3 miles to another trail junction at Tom's Crossing. Now we turned left and went uphill another .2 miles to the summit of West Tiger 2. Then we took the trail leading off the SW side of the summit signed for West Tiger 2 and Lake Tradition. We hiked .4 miles to West Tiger 3, and then we took the main West Tiger 2 Trail back to the TH. About 6.5 miles RT.

This is a nice lollipop loop that goes up to Poo Poo Point, then up to West Tiger 2, then West Tiger 3, then back out to Poo Poo Point. A great hike to find solitude and quiet forests away from the crowds. Start by hiking 1.7 miles up the Chirico Trail to Poo Poo Point north launch viewpoint. Then, look for the parking lot and the restrooms and find the trail that heads toward the mountains. Follow that trail about .5 miles, flat at first, then up a couple switchbacks. Come to a wooden trail gate thingy and a trail junction right behind it. Go up to the right on the One View Trail. Go .8 miles up and over a small 2267ft. hill and through Fifteenmile Gap. Come to the junction with the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). Go left. Now hike on the TMT, which is mostly flat with some uphill switchbacks here and there. This is a very pleasant hike with little traffic through nice forest. After 1.4 miles on the TMT, come to another junction. Go up to the right on a trail marked for West Tiger 2. This trail is not on the map but is in very good shape with no difficulties. It leads right up to the 2757ft. summit of West Tiger 2, which is the 2nd highest of the three West Tigers. Lots of radio and communications towers and shacks. Limited views, though. Now right next to the trail you came up, there should be another trail marked for West Tiger 3 and Lake Tradition. Hike .4 miles along a forested ridge/saddle down and then up to the very popular and busy summit of West Tiger 3. Yes, now you are back with other human beings. Weird how there are so many people on such a boring summit. Not go like you are going down the Cable Line trail. But keep an eye out for a small trail that drops off to the left. A little down that trail you might see a sign that says "Unmaintained Trail." This is the Section Line Trail. Go down this trail, steep at many times, .4 miles to a junction with the West Tiger Railroad Grade. Go left towards Poo Poo Point. Now hike 1.3 miles along this trail. It is mostly flat with some dips because of streams and also some occasional switchbacks. But for the most part, just a relaxing stroll. Soon you will find yourself back at the junction near the wooden trail gate. Now simply hike out the way you came in. About 9.5 miles round trip.

New Years Eve can only mean one thing, a trip to Tiger Mountain. I've only missed one year since 1983. Okay, so I don't have much imagination. A tradition is a tradition. This year Gary and John joined me for a one way trip from the Chirico trailhead to High Point East. Three summits and Poo Poo to make sure the trip would not be pointless. I went out early and scraped ice off my car. It was 25 degrees in Seattle. I went back out to leave at 8:00 am and in 30 minutes all the windows were iced up again. Not off to a good stop. I was 12 minutes late arriving at High Point and no car was in sight. I headed to the main trailhead and passed Gary and John driving back out. We left my car and headed into Issaquah to the Chirico parking lot. The Chirico lot is now twice as large as on my previous visit. There were half a dozen cars already there. Some clouds and mid 20s greeted us as we headed out just after 9:00 am. The day before I found dry snow and no ice on Rattlesnake Mountain. Much different conditions this day. There was only a little snow but it was packed down and very slick. I was tempted several times to stop and put on Yak Trax but my poles were enough to keep me from falling. We met several groups coming down and they were having a hard time staying on their feet. We came out of the forest at the paraglider lower take off meadow and there was enough snow to cover the grass. Nice clear views out. A few minutes later we were at the upper take off site. Of course we had to hike up to the high point of Poo Poo Point. Mt. Baker was crystal clear to the north and the Olympic Mountains were clear too. Several groups were at the point. I expected to not see many tracks for the next few hours. We headed out towards the West Tiger RR Grade and there were tracks in the snow. The snow was only a few days old so there were folks on this trail recently. At the junction with the High School and One View trails we found tracks in every direction. Even on snowy cold days at the end of the year there are folks on these less used trails. We headed uphill on the One View trail. Traction was much better here. Not nearly as icy. We turned right on the Tiger Mountain Trail. We hiked three sections of the TMT this day. The Poo Top Trail is steep in places but traction was okay. Poles helped a lot. Much to my surprise there were three sets of tracks on that trail. Tiger 1 was our high point at about 2950'. We had 2800' of our days gain out of the way. The Bypass trail brought us around to the viewpoint at the Hikers Hut. I was hoping the snow and cold temperatures would leave everything coated in rime ice as on another recent New Year's Eve hike. No such luck. Not a single bit of rime on anything. On the positive side, the view was outstanding. The Olympics really stood out. Overcast skies gave way to partly sunny. It was right about noon and lunchtime when we arrived. We had a nice stay enjoying the views. The road down was covered in footprints. It looked like an army had been up in the last few days. We climbed up to Tiger 2 and found a group on top. We went to the high point and then headed for Tiger 3. Rather than head down the narrow and likely icy current route we chose to take the old route to Tiger 2. The Seattle View trail was in surprisingly good shape. Not very brushy at all. Someone must be doing some maintenance. I minute on the TMT again and we headed down the Cable Line to Tiger 3. The expected crown was on the summit. I have 13 people in on photo so I'd guess there were about 18 folks on top. A few minutes later we retraced our route back to the TMT. When we first reached the TMT - Cable Line junction we noticed that the TMT heading north had no tracks on it. When we returned a few minutes later there were tracks in both directions! We missed our one chance to hike on untracked snow. I did have my first time on a new section of trail. Even that one had tracks on it. We finished up with a rare trip down the Lingering Trail and out at High Point East. Back at my car I found it was iced up of course. A third round of scraping and we were headed back to Chirico to close the loop. In more than a quarter century of year end hikes on Tiger I have had sun, rain, hail, snow, sleet, and just about everything else. Sunny and sub freezing was not bad at all. This has been a tough year personally but a pretty good year for hiking. More than 800 miles and 200,000' of gain is plenty good. We had a nice hike to end the year and I hope for a better year to come in 2011. 25 photos have been posted at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips-2010" on the left margin.

Did a loop from High Point Way, up Poo Poo point trail, One View trail, TMT, crossed over to Bootleg trail, West Tiger 1, West Tiger 2, down on the TMT. Snow at about 1800 - 2000 ft, up to 5 or 6 inches on the top. Few trees are down across the trail. Largest obstacle is on the TMT between K3 cut-off trail and High Point trail one of the larger bridges is damadged (shifted off it's foundation, board missing, very slippery. There is a sign that the trail is closed, "access is not permitted". That's the DNR's way of saying "if you get hurt, don't sue us." Based on footprints a lot of people ignore that sign and while I went over the bridge it is no problem to go down to the creek and cross the creek and go up on the other side. It's not like you have to scramble down a steep embankment or fight salmonberry bushes. Overall a nice run, but be prepared for wet feet.