This was an Issaquah Alps Hike in the Tiger Mt. Region with only two of us showing up, the hike leader and me. We did a loop going up the High School Trail via a paved Rainier Trail and then hiking the Section Line Trail to about 1400 feet (not in the plan) reversing our course to the Talus Rocks area and then down the Nook and back via the Around the Lake, Bus and Wetlands Trail to some unnamed trails that went near the rifle range. Trails were all in good condition and we did about 1300 feet of elevation gain and 6 to 7 miles of walking. View toward Issaquah was nice with trees in the valley beginning to turn to fall color.

Went out to go mushroom photographing and was not disappointed. I parked at Sunset Way in Issaquah. It wasn't bad, but the climb up to the plateau with all of it's highway noise and unmarked trails probably wasn't the best way into the park. The trails are well kept and definitely better marked than I recall from the last time I visited (which was quite some time ago). I did got to REI and get the map - which I'd highly suggest, as the tangle of trails can be quite confusing and the park is big. This particular route didn't have a huge amount of climbing - up Nook trail (and getting into the actual park area from the parking lot) had the bulk of it. The mushrooms are out and beautiful. I'll have to go back and explore other corners to see what fungal delights they hold. Lots more photos http://www.jungledragon.com/user/1590/morpheme.html including some that I haven't yet been able to ID - so please do visit and if you see something you recognize let me know :) Though I know it's beating a dead horse and these people probably don't read trip reports… please, please pick up your dog poop… when you are down on the ground as much as I am it's painfully clear just how much of it there is and the sheer amount at this park was totally disgusting. In some places it was less than 2 or 3 strides between moldy putrefying piles of poo. Just pushing them off the side of trail isn't acceptable. When you are constantly in danger of putting a hand, knee, elbow or butt in it, it gets really old, really fast.

Nice quiet dog walk this morning. Very few on the trail.

Great gentle trail loop with lots of variety! I hike monthly with my dear friend Denise who battles advanced cancer and is on a harsh chemo. So the trails I choose focus on maximum beauty for minimum effort - this one qualified! I used the 3mi trail combo in a recent trip report, with the sequence of main trail to bus trail to big tree trail to swamp (storybook) trail. I've included 4min of video highlights to give you a better idea of the trail loop..

There's a lot of heavy overcast as I head out of town. Oops, is that a rain drop on my windshield? Seems to be, and then there are three or four more... But that's it, then they stop. And at the High Point Exit the sky looks brighter. Later this morning I'll see a bit of blue sky. The road up to the big parking lot has been graded and, while it's still a bit rough on tires, it doesn't have the deep potholes I often encounter here. I've resolved today, after three recent hikes to higher points (Mt Si Old Trail, Mt Defiance, Granite Mtn) to relax and enjoy an almost-level hike around Tiger Mountain's Tradition Lake Loop (with the route modified just a bit from what's described in some guide books.) I've hiked "around" Tradition Lake several times in the past, in both directions, and have tried a number of trail variations. This is the one I like best. From the main parking lot, I start out on the big trail headed south then, almost immediately, turn right onto the signed Around The Lake Trail. Oddly, the sign says "Tradition Lake 1.5 M," but the lake is much closer than that, maybe just 0.5 M. Perhaps they were thinking of the distance to hike all the way around the lake. Here at the beginning it's a nice forest walk, with the usual ferns, small streams, and occasional wildflowers. A few signs offer comments about the ecology, and illustrate typical animal tracks. (But no wild critters appear for me today.) Soon enough I see bits of Tradition Lake, with its lily pads and a few wind-generated ripples, looming up through the trees. A bit more of the lake is visible from a viewing platform. A short way past the viewing platform the Around The Lake Trail heads off to the right (an optional side trip I sometimes take to reach water level at the west end of the lake.) But today I skip it and just continue on the main graveled trail as it bends around to the south and, soon, meets up with the Bus Trail. The namesake bus, such as it is, lies on its side a few feet to the left. There's not much to see. Old buses, suitably altered, sometimes were used by loggers as kitchens and bunkhouses, and that may be what brought this one here to end it's days -- and contribute a trail name -- in the Tigers. After a quick look at the remains of the bus, I turn back west and continue on the Bus Trail, crossing over the gas line and under a power line, heading right 200 feet and finding the SE end of the Wetlands Trail. There's even a big sign board here with a Green Trails Tiger Mountain map posted. The Wetlands Trail passes tiny Round Lake, with it's water level seeming rather low this year. I hear the deep tones of a bullfrog, and note a lot of the waxy Indian pipe flora that feed off the roots of conifers. A number of signs along the way caution about staying on the trail, and indicate some faint social trails that are closed. I continue on and, at a trail junction, go left avoiding the right fork to the "Wetlands Connector" that leads to a power substation. As I approach another power line, at an unsigned T-junction, I go left again, downhill, parallel to the power line. And there I pass the signed north end of the Adventure Trail, whose other end 0.8 miles south is noted by many a hiker on the High School Trail. I cross under the power line and find the sign for the beginning of the Brink Trail. It follows the edge of a steep slope with I-90 hidden behind dense vegetation down at the bottom -- out of sight but definitely not out of hearing! The traffic roar never stops. I'm glad to come soon to the sign for the Ruth Kees Big Tree Trail and turn right there, heading farther away from the traffic noise. There are several reasons I prefer the Big Tree Trail to the Brink Trail. The noise is one. A second is the opportunity to see one of the largest trees remaining in the Tigers. Another is that later in my hike I'll be following the Swamp Trail. Now the Swamp Trail does have a lot of ferns and moss but, oddly, not a lot of real swamp. To see real swamp, some of the best in the Tigers, I have to hike the Big Tree Trail. There are a number of large trees along the Big Tree Trail, and soon I see the Really Big One looming up ahead. But, just a few feet before I reach the tree, I take the short side trail to the left for a look at some genuine swamp, with hanging moss, small green botanicals dense on the surface of the water, and a few alligators (just kidding on that last item.) And don't forget the tree. It's impressive. The sign estimates the age to be between 200 and 400 years. Apparently it hasn't been cored to count tree rings. And reflect that not so long ago there were a multitude of others like it here in the Tigers, and elsewhere in the western Cascades. I continue on and, after crossing under yet another power line (or perhaps recrossing one I crossed earlier) I'm led directly onto the Swamp Trail. As noted, there is no swamp like that near the Big Tree. But a neat set of signs describe, for young hikers, the adventures of Zoe and her critter friends (and Zoe may herself be a critter,) and their concern about a possibly-mythical Swamp Monster. Of course, the story reads better from the other direction, and if my hiking party included a very young hiker I'd want to do the hike in the opposite direction. Part way along, the Swamp Trail is joined by a connecting trail from the north side, a possible route for any hikers who stayed with the Brink Trail. But, today, this end of that route looks heavily overgrown and not at all pleasant for hiking. Soon, I'm back at the Main Trail where it leaves the parking area. For hikers going the other way there is a sign for the Swamp Trail just before the sign for the Around The Lake Trail. So it's easy either way. It's about three miles around the loop, with less than 100 feet elevation change. I saw, today, perhaps five joggers, but no other hikers so it was a very uncrowded day on the trails.