Hobart - Middle Tiger Railroad Trail, Tiger Mountain Trail North, Fifteenmile Creek Railroad Grade & Hidden Forest Trail — Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010

Issaquah Alps > Tiger Mountain

Today, I explored some old logging railroad grades in Tiger Mountains' Fifteen Mile Creek valley. This area is remote from the usual trailheads and has a delightful wilderness feel. Deep in the quiet reaches of the valley, one can imagine that he is far away in the heart of the Cascades. The first of the logging railroad remnants that I hiked is the Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade. This is reached by hiking road 1000 (from Tiger Summit, perhaps) to the Middle Tiger Trail, which after a quick little climb reaches the start of the railroad grade/trail. Once you are on the grade, the hiking is easy as the path make a gently climbing traverse into the deep valley of Fifteen Mile Creek. There is one rough spot where the trail crosses a ravine formerly spanned by a trestle. A crude path clambers down into the ravine and up the other side. Farther along, a tree with a ribbon marks the path that once dropped down to the end of the Grand Canyon trail. This trail is washed out and no longer usable, which is unfortunate because the path provided a useful connection for loop hikes. It would be a worthwhile project to construct a new version of this trail. After a mile, the trail passes a neat spot where the railroad grade is cut into bedrock; a rain-swollen Fifteen Mile Creek can be heard roaring far below in its steep canyon. Eventually the trail approaches the creek and reaches a junction with a steep and primitive connector trail that climbs up to the Tiger Mountain Trail. You can also continue along the railroad grade a short ways to the site of a big trestle bridge that once crossed the creek. I continued my hike by climbing to the TMT, then following it north through lovely old forest to Custer's Bridge and on just a bit farther to the junction with the Fifteen Mile Railroad Grade Trail. This old railroad grade/ trail, also wide and well preserved, gradually descends the north side of the Fifteen Mile Creek valley. The south facing slope that the trail traverses is nice on a sunny winter day. Like the Hobart grade trail, this trail is little-hiked. In places, it is carpeted with ground cover plants which seem little disturbed by footprints. A few new bridges spanning creeklets have been installed. The easy hiking ends rather dramatically at a major washout, about a mile from the Tiger Mountain Trail junction. The railroad grade here has completely slid away, creating a deep, nearly impassible gully. At the bottom of the gully, a stream tumbles down bare bedrock in a series of cascades--rather a pretty sight. Where the railroad grade ends, a crude trail climbs up the slope and through the ravine. Even this trail has been damaged and getting through the ravine is now rather tricky. At the other side of the ravine, the railroad grade resumes, but it is brushier and more poorly maintained. In less than a half mile from the washout, the trail reaches a junction with the Hidden Forest Trail. This junction is rather poorly marked by a yellow ribbon on a tree. To continue my hike, I descended the Hidden Forest Trail, an old-school primitive route with steep grades, down to Road 1000 and followed that back to my car. Maintenance requirements: Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade-- A low use, primitive trail that is in pretty good shape, with only one significant blowdown. Mudholes on the northern end. The tricky ravine crossing could use improvement. Connector Trail to TMT--primitive and steep, but otherwise in o.k. shape. Tiger Mountain Trail from Hal's Cove to Custers Bridge--Good condition, but somewhat muddy. Some turnpikes, filled with poor soil, have turned to mud. Fifteen Mile RR Grade--The east half is quite nice. One annoying blowdown and a little brush. Building a good trail through the washed out ravine is going to require a major effort. Currently, crossing the ravine is tricky and a bit dangerous. As noted, the continuation of the RR grade/ trail is brushier beyond the ravine...needs work. Hidden Forest Trail-- This is an old school trail with narrow, barely constructed tread, random dips and climbs, and sections with 50% grades. Eventually, the trail could use rerouting to reduce the grade, but usage is so light that such work is hardly a priority. There is one massive blowdown (5 feet in diameter) that is quite a challenge to climb over. Otherwise the path is in o.k. shape, though the narrow overgrown tread can be hard to follow.