Basically a four-summit loop, minus Poo poo Point, that turned into a trail half-marathon. Roads and trails are all great. Overall a pleasant adventure through the forest.
Route:
South on Cable Line Trail; West on TMT; South on West Tiger 3 Trail; West on Talus Rocks Trail; South on Section Line Trail; Over West Tiger #3; Southeast on West Tiger #2 via TMT and Seattle View Trail; East on West Tiger #2 Trail over Hiker’s Hut and West Tiger #1; West on Bootleg Trail; North on Preston Trail; East on Dwight’s Way Trail; North on Lingering Trail; South on High Point Trail; West on TMT to Tiger Mountain Trailhead; East on Southeast 79th Street Trail.
Total: 13.5 miles and 4700 feet, completed in 3.5 hours (walking uphill, jogging flat/downhill), according to my Garmin
Conditions:
Cable Line Trail is steep and muddy at times, and Section Line Trail is quite steep. Seattle View Trail and the trails surrounding the summits were covered in a thin layer of snow, but I never lost traction with good running shoes (not even trail runners). From the summit, I had pretty good views of Lake Sammamish, Bellevue, Lake Washington, and Seattle below the clouds (unfortunately no Olympics). There were also some brilliant views up the I-90 corridor when the sun decided to shine through (though never on me). The summits were also significantly colder with the wind and snow, so I put on an extra long sleeve I brought with me. I was totally fine in shorts and a t-shirt the rest of the time. Bootleg Trail down to Preston Trail have a good layer of snow, but it is packed down enough in the trail tracks so that I never slipped, though I am admittedly nimbler than average. I would add that the Talus Rocks Trail, Preston Trail, Dwight's Way Trail, Lingering Trail, and parts of the TMT are very fun to trail run. Took a wrong turn at some point in Talus Rocks and ended up on top of a boulder next to the trail, but that was just more fun and extra adventure. Beyond that, the signage was excellent and never left me guessing. I did pull up gaia often, but that was mostly to check the route I had planned and the time. I saw 8 other people on the trail, not including the lovely DNR crew I ran into on Lingering Trail, taking out three large logs across the trail. Apart from that, there were 7-8 logs on the path over the whole loop, all of them under 10 inches and easy to step over. As an added bonus, I walked up to the DNR crew after my jog and helped them carry out their tools, as I knew I would have to wait for them anyways (Thanks for the work, dad!).
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