Northwest Timber Trail, Joyride, East Tiger, West Tiger No. 1 via Fred's Corner, West Tiger 3, Talus Rock Trail, Nook Trail, Puget Power, Adventure Trail, Poo Poo Point, West Side Road, Hidden Forest Trail, Tiger Mountain Trail, Fifteenmile Creek Railroad Grade, Preston Railroad Grade & Tradition Lake Loop — Friday, Jan. 9, 2015

Issaquah Alps > Tiger Mountain

As a trail runner, I've been inspired by the feats of Scott Jurek, especially given that he lived and trained in the Pacific Northwest as he took the trail running scene by storm. One of his famous runs is an out and back in the Tiger Mountain NF that he called the "Twelve Summits". Thirty four grueling miles, up and over the major summits in the area, and then back. I wanted to create my own training run in this area, but with less elevation gain, and in a "loop" as I am not a big fan of going over the same terrain twice. So armed with my trusty map, I left the Tiger Summit Trailhead at 0800 and got down to business. I won't get into a mile-by-mile, detailed account but just the concentrate on listing the trails used. I started on the Northwest Timber Trail (no obstacles) as I like a nice warm up before going up the hill. The two miles was a great start. At this point, I jumped on a newer trail, Joy Ride which is purposed more for bikers than hikers/runners. However, it is well built, easy to follow and has a gradual incline. Once I intersected with Fully Rigid Trail, I continued on it. Again, well built, gradual and it weaves it's way through some very interesting forest. A bit eerie even. This trail eventually intersects with East Tiger Summit. I followed this trail to it's intersection with East Tiger Summit Road and ascended that to the summit of East Tiger. Unsure of whether I would come back over this peak, I descended via the same road. In hindsight, I would've descended via the East Tiger Summit Trail since I did not come back over this terrain. I followed that road to the intersection of Road 4000, which I than ran to it's connection with the Preston Railroad Grade. I then followed that the short distance to it's junction with East Tiger Trail. This trail is pretty faint, and hasn't seen much traffic. But still easily ran. I followed East Tiger until the junction with Upper Bootleg (nice decorated tree here) and turned left and began to follow this trail towards Tiger I. I hit West Tiger and here is where the major obstacle of the day faced me. At the clearcut there, it appears as if WWI hit the trail. An amazing amount of trees are down across the trail. The trail itself for a hundred yards or so is decimated. I weaved my way over, under and around tree's. But if you are not comfortable doing this and taking some risks, I advise to stay away from this section. You could climb up to the road and continue on there. Once I hit the Hiker's Hut, I was on part of the Twelve Summits Route. I ran along to the summits of Tiger's II and III, the dropped down using West Tiger No. 3 trail. At the intersection with Talus Rock Trail, I turned left and followed that fun little trail to Nook, which took me down to the Bus Trail. I took a quick break at the High Point Trailhead (15.5 miles), then cut over on the Around the Lake to the Puget Power trail. I started my return journey by taking Adventure Trail to Poo Poo Point Trail. I power hiked this trail to the point and was able to enjoy watching some dudes leap off of it and float around for a bit. I then took the West Side to it's junction with Hidden Forest. This was steeper and more difficult then I anticipated and I was starting to bonk a bit. Fortunately, the terrain eases up when you hit the TMT which I followed to Fifteen Mile and it's junction with Rd 4000. I walked the 1.6 miles on this road, refueling to it's intersection with Preston RR (again). However this time I descended the full trail until it's junction with Road 7000. I was treated to the sun slowly setting as I followed this road back to Northwest Timber. I hit the parking lot and my car at 33.5 miles just as dusk hit. 8:45 total time. I have uploaded the route to Runkeeper for those interested. I have called it the "Easy Tiger 50k".