With the recommendation of a friend and my map of the area in hand, we plotted a hike from the high school, up on Section Line to #3, then along the TMT to Fifteen mile Gap, briefly on One View to Poo Poo Point and back again. Generally good conditions were found and an element of solitude, especially on the TMT. Which brings me to the point of this story. Someone had written of blowdown on the TMT north of #2. We were on the section running south of #2 in a generally SE direction. The first mile from Manning's Reach has blowdown after blowdown after... You get the point. Must have been that wind storm of a couple of weeks back, because it looks pretty fresh. Mostly small trees,yet some big ones too. Some a little difficult to get around on steep mossy hillsides. Saw one fellow carrying a machete who said he was going in to work on them (and leaving his cuttings right on the trail!). What is needed is a few bow saws, make that a half dozen, and the work will be done soon. Next person up bring along something and over time it should get taken care of! Thanks!!

Let's see, it will be 65 degrees and sunny today and wet and rainy for the weekend. It didn't take long to decide to close up the office early and head out for a hike. I left Seattle at 1:30 and was at the trailhead by 2:05. I was not the only one who thought sitting in the sun at Poo Poo Point was a good idea. The lot was full and another half dozen cars were parked on the side of the road. The trail is in excellent shape. Quite a contrast to the TMT trip I took on Saturday from High Point. That trail was very muddy and had snow for the last 500' to the top of Tiger 2. The Chirico trail has very little mud. I raced up and reached the upper viewpoint in just under 50 minutes. For a little more exercise I continued on to the intersection with the trail to the High School. No snow at all at the 1900' level. I returned to the viewpoint to watch the paragliders. It looked like Sea-Tac with 3 or 4 constantly awaiting take off. I counted up to 16 in the air at one time. I guess I was not the only one taking some time off work. There was a very clear view of Baker, Pilchuck, and Three Fingers to the north. From the lower viewpoint Rainier was also clearly visible. I had a good book, food, and water so I spent 90 minutes relaxing on the grass. On the way down I spotted the first sign of Spring. A sharp eye will see half a dozen Trillium in the first mile of the trail. It was a great way to enjoy the nicest day of the year (so far). Now I can get through the rain this weekend.

Despite fearing a President's Day crowd, Jake and I decided to head up to Tiger Mountain for a trail run on Monday. Even though we arrived late, we managed to find parking at the High Point lot. I was relieved to see it wasn't nearly as crowded as I had feared. However, knowing that most hikers head up the West Tiger 3 trail, Jake and I decided to take an entirely different route. We started off down the aptly named Swamp Trail. While there were a few patches of deep, shoe-sucking mud, most of it could be avoided because of the well-maintained boardwalks. From the end of that trail, we cut over to the Brink Trail. Although the path was fairly narrow, it was clear and easy to follow. The ground was soft without being muddy. We headed from the Brink Trail to the Adventure Trail. It was tough to find since the sign was down, but some helpful person drew an arrow to it on the empty post. Once down the trail a bit, there was a large wooden plaque indicating that it was, indeed, the Adventure Trail. We followed the trail until it came to a T at the High School Trail. There were no signs, so we took a guess at how to find the Poo Poo Point Trail. Initially, we headed right. We knew we were going the wrong way when we started going downhill. We turned around, skirted one large mud puddle, and found ourselves at a junction of trails. Only one of them was marked--Section Line. We took the trail just to the right of it, even though it was unmarked, figuring it was the one we were looking for. It was. Poo Poo Point Trail was a long uphill slog. The most remarkable part of it was finally encountering another hiker. It amazes me how deserted the side trails can be at Tiger. Finally, we reached Poo Poo Point. After enjoying the view a few moments, we headed back. On a whim we decided to make it a loop and take the West Tiger Railroad Grade over to the West Tiger 3 trail. The Railroad Grade was not as well cleared as the other trails and quickly turned to snow. Since the footprints were obvious we pushed through. After 400 yards or so, the trail was free again. After some easy jogging on the mostly flat trail, we found ourselves heading down the mainline--West Tiger 3. As expected, we finally encountered our crowds. People and dogs swarmed up the trail as we bounded our way down to the parking lot. The path was a little slippery in places, but for the most part in excellent shape. Back at the parking lot I added up the mileage from the map at the kiosk. There were a few gaps, so the best I can figure is the loop was somewhere between 10 and 11 miles--and all but the last two miles were virtually crowd free.

After watching the Mr. Hankey Christmas Special, a trip to Poo Poo Point seemed rather appropriate. The route is not entirely intuitive. Start on the West Tiger Mountain Trail and turn right on to the Bus Road. Turn left onto a side trail immediately after passing a rusted-out overturned bus. Turn left under the powerlines. The Poo Poo Point and Section Line Trails turn off to the left after about 0.3 miles. After about 3 miles, the Poo Poo Point Trail intersects the Railroad Grade Trail. From here, you can either proceed approximately straight ahead on the One View Trail or turn right onto the railroad grade to Poo Poo Point. The railroad grade turns into a trail which descends steeply to meet an old section of the West Side Road where you turn left. After 0.4 miles on the old road bed, there is a developed day facility at Poo Poo Point. There are some muddy spots at various points along the route. There is a large log across the Bus Road and a fallen tree overhanging the powerline. There are many logs across both the Poo Poo Point and One View Trails. No views from the high point of One View Trail at Hill 2267 but good views from Poo Poo Point. One hang-glider was seen. Sky was overcast with mostly moderate temperatures except cooler temperatures at lower elevations. For the best information about trails on Tiger Mountain, see Bill Longwell's ""Guide to Trails of Tiger Mountain."" He cuts right to the chase without a lot of political rhetoric you see in other guide books.

This hike involved about a 12 mile loop and was done to complete the last section of TMT I had not hiked. The day started cool and overcast. The hike to One View Trail via the Poo Poo Point trail was uneventful. The Poo Poo Point trail to the West Tiger Railroad being in excellent shape. About half way to the TMT, (0.5 miles) on the One View Trail, rain began to fall lightly. Within the next half mile the light rain turned to a realy shower so got my rain gear on and started on the TMT down to the 15 mile railroad trail. Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) was somewhat brushy but for the most part in good shape and easy to follow. By the time I arrived at the Paw Print Rest Stop, the rain had stopped and I sat for a lunch break. Walked the road to West Tiger 2 and then took the trail down to West Tiger 3 and returned via the West Tiger 3 trail to the High Point parking lot. Rain again began to fall on the bottom part of the WT#3. This is a nice loop with elevation gain and some views. Weather on my hike was not great but did not stop my enjoyment of the area. Hiking time about 5 hours including about 45 minutes for lunch and equipment change breaks.