The main Tiger parking lot is currently a sheet of ice but I expect with warming temperatures in the coming week that will change. I used the facilities at the Tradition Plateau parking lot around 7 a.m. before returning to High Point Trailhead and needed four men in crampons to help push my car in reverse to get out.
At High Point TH near the white pole, I steered my 3 hikers to bare patches so they wouldn't have issues leaving. We wore microspikes and used at least one pole apiece the entire trip. A few inches of snow at the bottom grew to close to a foot at the summit of W. Tiger 1. We did not see many people on Dwight Trail, but we saw plenty of trail runners (some even in shorts!) coming down and one golden retriever.
We met at 7:30 and headed up the trail at 7:37. 5 hours round trip, 2:51 up and 1:30 down with a 15-minute break at the summit and a few stops for microspike adjustments. Pace varied from 1.7 mph on the steeps up, to 2.3 down. Rare patches of dirt. Mostly snow and ice.
When one hiker lost the microspikes from one boot we had to retrace our footsteps, adding 10-15 minutes to our total time, but fortunately, we found them, which led to much celebrating. We determined they might have been the incorrect size, but fortunately, everyone had the traction they needed to avoid incidents/falls.
We saw or heard 16 bird species including a pileated woodpecker involved in a massive excavation project. The cavities in the tree pictured were VERY impressive about 40 feet up the tree. Busy bird!
Beautiful stark blues and whites at the summit with stunning wind sculptures. We only had about 15 minutes to grab a snack and a few photos but going down we managed to keep everyone warm.
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