I'll get the important stuff out of the way first. We found a pair of sunglasses and a soft case approaching the viewpoint this morning (see my last photo). If they're yours write a comment down below and I'll figure out a way to get them to you. Now on to the hike.
Chris and I met a little before 6:00 AM this morning to head up to Poo Poo Point. For a change of pace we parked up behind Issaquah High School near the Sportsman's Club. At that early hour we were the only two cars parked there...when we returned all the parking up there was taken as was the parking along the road near the high school. A lot were hikers like ourselves but a number were overflow from IHS as a girl's softball tournament was going on up there this morning.
We headed over to the High School trail and started our hike. Right off the bat we saw a number of signs indicating a run was taking place up there today. A quick check of the phone told us it was the Tiger Claw 50K! A number of different loops totaling 50K if you complete all of them. The Poo Poo Point trail between the High School trail and the One View trail was designated as the Yellow Loop portion of the run. Since the run started at 7:00 we weren't sure if we'd see anyone or not on our way up to the viewpoint. We did see one hiker coming down...she told us she had started at 5:30 to avoid all the runners. The route was marked with signs and ribbons (see photo 2).
We got out to the point at 7:40 and there was only one other hiker up there with us which was a surprise for such a nice Saturday morning. We were soon joined by two other hikers. They had larger packs on and I asked them what they were training for and they said next month they are going down to the Grand Canyon to do the rim to rim hike. Because that hike has always interested me I started asking them questions and they answered all of them for me. A big Steve shout out to you guys...I'm sorry I didn't catch your names but thanks for taking the time to talk to us and answer everything. Good luck next month.
As we left the point I made a stop to check out the bathrooms up there and they were clean and stocked. As we approached the intersection with the One View trail we were wondering if we were going to see some runners. We got our answer in a hurry. The first two runners came smoking up the trail. We said hi to them and then saw two more in quick succession. From that point on we counted all the runners we saw and our total from there back to the High School trail was 77! A course marshal we met near the High School trail told us there were 160 runners entered today so we saw nearly half of them. Chris and I would step off the trail as they passed and offer words of encouragement or a cheer, fist bumps and high fives. From their reactions I think they appreciated it. Between counting them and interacting with them Chris and I both said at the end of our journey we haven't had that much fun on a hike in a while.
Besides all the runners it was also a busy day for hikers. Our hiker count was 55 total counting the person we saw on our way up, the two guys we talked with at the top and the rest on our return to the cars. Lots of people out enjoying the trail today.
As mentioned earlier we got back to the crowded parking lot right at 9:20. Stay safe everyone. See you on the trail. SR
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