West Tiger Mountain on a gray day

Steve Hannan joined me on an after-work hike yesterday and after fighting our way through pre-Mariner's traffic on our way out of Seattle we made it easily to Issaquah.  We pulled off of I-90 at the High Point exit and drove to the upper lot where we encountered new signs requiring parking permits. Having neither a permit nor the desire for a $200 ticket, we returned to the frontage road and walked back to the lot.  We continued on the flat section of the trail network heading toward the West Tiger 3.  A few short steps later we turned left onto Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT), the namesake trail for the mountain.

 One of the great things about the TMT is that so few people use it compared to the West Tiger 3 trail.

TMT starts out fairly flat with a few short steep grades until it crosses the Cable Trail about 1/2 mile from the start. A couple of hundred yards later, a series of 14 short, relatively steep switchbacks begins to climb.  At this point we discovered that stinging nettles were in their full glory: some were low attacking our ankles, others were high, threatening to leave a burning track across our faces.

Did I mention the weather?  cool, and drizzley! gotta love Seattle summer weather.  It left the understory drenched. Soon, the leader, that would be me, was as wet as the forbs I was trampling through.

At the top of the switchbacks the trail levels as it crosses the side of a steep forested slope. In this area, called Anschelles Allee, the understorey is absent as are the deciduous trees.  Second growth conifers rise vertically from a floor of stumps, blowdown, and needles- a welcome and unexpected change from the claustrophobic vegetation on the lower flanks of the mountain.



Soon we came across a group of woman hikers with their Golden Retriever, the first folks we had seen since we left the main drag over  a mile ago, Shortly after we crossed the a bridge that spanned a small deep-cut creek.
 
After a second bridge we reached a decision point: right up K-3 or left to continue on TMT?  We went left in spite of the sign warning that the trail was closed ahead.  I let Steve know that the trail closure was due to a bridge,which had been knocked off its abutment during a storm a year ago or so.  I had previously braved the crossing and was prepared to do it again.When we reached the bridge there was another hiker on the far side of the bridge who warned us off crossing it, so instead we hopped a few rocks under the bridge and went merrily on our way. 

We continued to climb the TMT past the High Point access trail down to the road and past the Lingering Loop trail.  About 3/4 of a mile later we crossed a small bridge over what is one of the prettiest spots on the mountain.  In spite of our proximity to civilization, it seems to be miles, or a lifetime away from the City.


We continued on for another 1/2 mile or so where we stopped to consult our watch and map.  The watch showed 8pm and the map showed that either loop I had been contemplating would require another 2 1/2 miles of trail work.  Instead, we chose to backtrack our steps to Lingering Loop, which we followed down to the access road.  I told Steve about one of my first visit here,when Andy Nichols and I came across a strange structure built from logs.  Here is Andy, showing off his new summer home.

One half mile to the west we reached my car, tired after six miles in the bush, but grateful for the exercise and a much-needed respite from the big city grind.