A beautiful day, a late start, a fun hike (see Figure 2 for map of trail taken). The trailhead is best described as interesting, rarely the same, not the greatest way to start a hike (down and on abandoned pavement only holding its own because someone once in one or two years beats the invasives and natives back). It also retains legacy elements from hurried forested bathroom stops and household waste --yesterday it was two large flat screen TVs and a large section of carpet.
Once down the road, across the bridge and up and off the old road bed, things improve. Once across the powerline right-of-way, they really improve! The rest is a great forest walk, often with the sound of running water (and I-90). You end up just below the AT&T towers on West Tiger 1 and you then can go either left or right. Right takes you to the top and connections with trails to Poo Poo Point as well as West Tiger 1 and 2. Five years ago, with the exception of the road down from West Tiger 1 or the very top of West Tiger 2 (with the view restricted to the south), there were virtually no views. Now, thanks to a Weyerhaeuser logging show, the views are three-sixty and are, frankly, spectacular. St. Helens and Rainier to the south, Glacier and Baker to the NE/N. Seeing the urban and suburban areas woven into the forested hills and the waters of Lake Sammamish, Washington, other lakes, and the Puget Sound is well-worth the effort. These views will be largely gone in a decade as many of the newly planted now 2- and 3-year-old Douglas-fir seedlings (likely 2-0 stock) are doing very well. My first time up any of the Tiger Mountains dates to before 1970 -- I have seen previous clearcuts and views disappear; these will also. Thanks to Harvey Manning and others, the trails will remain.
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