Every time I hike in the Tiger Mountain Trail system, I am delightfully surprised with new and beautiful adventures. This time I went up to Middle Tiger Mountain from Highway 18. Take exit 25 from I-90 south about 4 miles to an obvious parking lot. Go beyond this one to an upper parking lot which boasts a nice restroom and direct access to the trailhead. Today we opted for the Iverson RR trail which connects to the Tiger mountain trail about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. The trail is clear, easy sailing through a deliciously wet fern forest and one section to clearcut. At the junction with Road 1000, turn right 0.3 miles to another junction. A gated road is to the left and the trail is to the right. This trail could use some brushing as it is getting overgrown with fern, boxwood, and devil's club. At Zeig's Zag (there is a nice sign on the tree trunk) the main trail bends left to go around a steep nob. We went right on the so-called artifact trail (sign farther in). This leads to a charming gulch full of old iron railroad parts and huge clusters of oyster mushrooms. Past the big tangle of scrap iron is a bridge with a trail that goes off to the right someplace. Don't cross the bridge. Instead, just before the scrap iron is a faint trail that makes a sketchy but discernable trace up a draw to Karl's Gap. This is signed ""Wright's Reach"" at the Karl's Gap exit. There is no sign at the scrap iron. There we rejoined the Tiger Mountain trail for 0.4 miles to the junction with the Middle Tiger Trail. Turn right and climb briskly up 0.3 miles to the summit. The ferns in this area are particularly lush. The summit is unremarkable. No views. Just a wide spot in the trees before descending down the other side to Road 4000. No matter. This is a great short hike in the forest for all seasons, only about 1400 feet gain in roughly 3.2 miles. Nothing too steep, only one minor blowdown just past Karl's Gap. Nice trail and some very helpful signs.

A south to north transit of the 16 mile Tiger Mountain Trail found it in good shape. Several new bridges eliminated any creek jumping. Buzy trail crews have cleared all blowdowns but for one small tree a couple miles from the Tradition Lake parking lot. Lots of evidence of trail improvements in progress. A very pleasant 7 hour walk. One caution. The four way intersection of the TMT with the Seattle View Trail found another marked trail to Tiger 2 Summit. That summit trail is almost totally overgrown. For a side trip up to Tiger 2, take the summit trail at the next intersection north.

Today, balmy springlike zephyrs were gently caressing Tiger Mountain, and I was able comfortably to hike in a T-shirt all day. Blowdown from the winter's big storms have been removed from almost all trails, although a few new ones have appeared, not enough to spoil your hike. Here's the rundown on the trail conditions: TMT from Tradition Lake to K3 Trail: Good condition, although the trail has gotten muddy around the cable line. I had thought that this chronically muddy area had been fixed, but not so. In fact all the trails seemed muddier tham usual. Maybe it was due to the recent snow. K3: Although the sign says ""unmaintained"" this trail is perfectly decent, except for the initial 100 feet, which is muddy. W Tiger RR Grade from K3 to Preston Trail: Good enough to Fred's Corner. Beyond, the trail gets narrow and slumpy beyond the hundred yards or so that had been reworked. Preston Tr to Bootleg Tr: Good. Gloppy melting snow covers the path toward the top. Poo Top: Narrow, steep in spots. Good enough for the current use level, which is light. One View: Good. The section near the TMT is rougher and ought to be redone eventually. Poo Poo Point Tr. Quite good.

Using the trusty Metro 209 bus allows some long one-way trips on Tiger Mountain. I parked near the Issaquah Trail Center (at First and Bush) and hopped on the 209, which stops close by. This bus runs hourly to North Bend, except on Sundays. Rode the bus to the Preston I-90 interchange and got off at the stop sign. This is not an official bus stop, but drivers on rural routes will usually agree to make a custom stop if it is safe. After getting off the bus, I walked the frontage road to the little used Preston DOT trailhead, the official start of the Preston Trail, elevation 520'. After a short bit through forest, the trail followed a utility corridor for a half mile. This stretch had been churned up by heavy machinery into a muddy mess, and is not a place you want to be with low-top sneakers. I always enjoy seeing the yard with the numerous chickens that the trail passes. At a signed junction, the trail left the mud and powerlines and entered lovely old second growth forest. All blowdown had been cleared from this trail. In fact this was true for all Tiger Mountain trails that I've recently hiked--whoever maintains Tiger trails, whether volunteers or professional crews, are amazing! I continued the ramble on the Lower Bootleg Trail, which is unmarked by signs. The ""powers that be"" apparently consider this a rogue trail and not worthy of signage or maintenance, but the trail had been cleared nevertheless. This perfectly fine path alternated between steep grades and relaxing level stretches that allow you to enjoy the great second growth forest, century old trees for sure. The Lower Bootleg rejoined the official Preston Trail, located on an old logging road, at an unmarked junction, elevation 1520'. A short hop up the Preston brought me to the start of the main Bootleg Trail. I followed that little-used route, which climbed forested hillsides ,dipped through ravines with tumbling creeks, and visited old logging railroad grades. This remote-feeling path can be hard to follow when it is snowy, a common enough situation in winter at this elevation. But there is no snow at all now. The trail eventually leveled out at tranquil Fifteen Mile Pass, 2200' and transformed itself into the Paw Print Connector. Tempting trails branched off in several directions at the pass. A gradual descent over 0.7 miles brought me to the Paw Print Rest Stop, featuring some handy picnic tables and an intact composting outhouse. Some slobs had left garbage inside, but this loo looked reasonably functional. I rested and snacked a bit at one of the picnic tables, but the rest was cut short by a chilly wind and spitting rain. Back on the road, I followed a segment of the 15 Mile RR Grade trail, then turned west onto the Tiger Mountain Trail. This section of the TMT is far from trailheads and gets little use. The trail followed a rough contour on steep slopes between 2000 to 2300 feet, which looked easy on the map but was tiring to walk. Some of the tread had been reworked, but mostly the path was narrow and slumped. This is the sunny side of Tiger, and the steep forest was open enough to give peek-a-boo views in places. One of the few scenic highlights was the huge mossy boulder dubbed ""Lone Rock"". Two miles later I arrived at the One View Trail junction, and here I finally left the TMT, which was getting to be an old friend at this point. Part of the One View Trail was rough, old school Tiger quality and part of the trail had been rebuilt to WTA supertrail standard. I'm still not sure where the ""one view"" is. An area of blowdown from a storm several years ago was still impressive to see. My trek continued on the Poo Poo Point Trail, which continued the long descent from the heights of Tiger. The High School Trail, built on an old pioneer road and distant ancestor of I-90, took me down to the flatlands of Issaquah. A final long trudge on the old railroad grade turned into an urban paved promenade led me back to the Issaquah community center and my car. About 11 miles of Tiger Mountain goodness covered today. --Tiger Mountain trail condition summary-- Preston Trail to Bootleg Trail Junction: Generally good. Cleared of blowdown. Utility corridor section very muddy. Lower Bootleg Trail: good condition, blowdown cut. Bootleg Trail to Paw Print Connector: fair condition, brushy sections, mud and water on trail in places, narrow rooty tread in spots. Blowdown cut. Paw Print Connector: good condition. Tiger Mountain Trail from 15 Mile RR Grade to One View Trail: fair condition, narrow, slumped tread in many places. Blowdown cleared. One View Trail: good condition, blowdown cleared. One section has steep eroded tread. Poo Poo Point Trail from RR grade on down: Good condition. One new blowdown on trail on upper section, otherwide blowdown has been removed. Drainage features need repair and improvement.

Frigid weather has been replaced by balmy zephyrs, and the snow on Tiger is rapidly disappearing. Still, above 2500', the snow is amazingly deep, the best snowpack on Tiger I've seen in several years. Methinks I may try to do a little cross country skiing on East Tiger, just for the hell of it. Here's the rundown on the trails I walked on my latest ramble. High Point Trail: In good shape. Blowdown has been cleared. Drain dips need cleaning out. TMT, Highpoint Creek section: Generally in good shape. Above Ruth's Cove, there are several hundred feet of severe blowdown damage. The blowdown trees have been cut but the tread is damaged. Drain dips need cleaning out and improvement everywhere on the trail. West Tiger RR Grade from Fred's Corner Junction to Preston Trail: In o.k. shape. Flooding creeks have cut gullys across the trail in a few spots. The first few hundred yards have been extensively repaired, the rest of the trail is narrow and slumped. No blowdown. Preston Trail from 2100' to Poo Top Trail: Blowdown has been cleared. Heavy snow higher up on trail. You might want to have traction aids for your boots, and poles for stability. There's almost 2 feet of snow in some open areas! Poo Top Trail: Snowy higher up. Blowdown has been mostly removed. Hidden Forest Trail, upper end to TMT: In O.K shape. One View Trail: O.K. shape. Cleared of blowdown. Some erosion damage on trail, need drain dips on steeply graded sections. West Tiger RR Grade from Poo Poo Point Trail to Section Line Tr: O.K. shape. Blowdown has been removed. Trail is rough through Many Creeks Valley, with a lot of ups and downs. This is not a route to make fast time on. Section Line Trail: Miserably steep, otherwise free of problems between RR grade and Talus Cave connector trail. Nook Trail: In good shape. Drain dips need cleaning out.