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Tiger Mountain offers hikes to fit everybody and trails for all seasons
By KAREN SYKES ![[Bio]](../image/bio_bttn.gif){kind=small}
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Maybe you've wondered about that long string of cars parked off Exit 20 on Interstate 90, as you head toward Snoqualmie Pass. No, it's not a used car lot -- it's the Tiger Mountain trailhead.
If you haven't heard of Tiger Mountain, now is a good time to discover it, as winter has silently closed the doors on many high-country trails, and Tiger is accessible year-round.
Tiger is a popular hiking area, so the more well-known trails may not be suitable for those seeking introspection. Tiger is so close to civilization that it almost feels like cheating to hike there and find mountain wilderness so close to home.
There is a vast menu of hikes to choose from, and a collection of books on these hikes can be found in most bookstores and libraries.
Tiger Mountain is a friendly place. If you are a seasoned hiker you may run into other hikers you know.
Tiger is also an excellent place to watch the changing seasons; in spring it is rich with new growth and wildflowers.
And Tiger is a good conditioner -- a hefty 2,000-foot gain to the summit of West Tiger 3, one of the more popular hikes in the area.
There's a hike for everybody -- young or old, experienced or new to hiking -- and if West Tiger 3 is too much, choose an easier hike such as the Around Lake Tradition trail, which also starts from the Tradition Plateau trailhead and is wheelchair-friendly.
Tiger Mountain is a busy place, but it always has been. Late in the 19th century, loggers cut the cedars and Douglas fir on the lower slopes. Railroad loggers arrived in the 1920s and engineered a tramway that went up to the 1,900-foot level (the railroad grade you walk on today). By the mid-1930s Tiger was abandoned by the loggers, and the new-growth forest took over.
A trail -- at one time a service road -- leads to a state fire lookout tower on East Tiger. When The Mountaineers put the hike into the public eye with their first hiking guide, thousands of hikers came, and there were problems.
By 1980 new roads were opened for logging by Weyerhaeuser and the State Department of Natural Resources, and these roads were taken over by an unsavory element, often on wheeled vehicles.
Fortunately, in 1980 a new state land commissioner, Brian Boyle, arranged a land exchange that got Weyerhaeuser off the mountain. And in response to a proposal from the Issaquah Alps Trail Club, Boyle proclaimed a Tiger Mountain State Forest, a "working forest in an urban environment," and changes were made accordingly.
All management roads have been closed to unauthorized motorized vehicles and have become multiuse trails for walkers, horseback riders and bicyclists.
Tiger Mountain is also a place for me to remember a friend, Jimmy Hinkhouse, who was killed with two companions on a recent climb of Mount McKinley. Jimmy was founder of the OSAT (One Step at a Time) mountaineering club for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts and their friends.
For several years OSAT has climbed Tiger Mountain every Thursday evening, followed by a 12-step meeting, and on Sunday mornings. There is a plaque dedicated to the OSAT climbers near the summit of West Tiger 3, where the Thursday night meetings are held.
Tiger Mountain is a place of changing seasons and moods. It is a place to meditate and to dream, to socialize and celebrate life in all it's seasons.
Getting there
Drive east on I-90 and look for Exit 20 beyond Issaquah. From the exit turn right on the frontage road and drive a short distance to the gate turnaround. Walk 6/10 of a mile past the gate to the Tradition Plateau trailhead (elevation 500 feet), which offers restrooms, a shelter and picnic tables.
Trail detail
Begin hiking from the Tradition Plateau trailhead and walk the Bus Trail -- actually a road, and yes, there really is an abandoned vintage Greyhound bus near the trail.
Go about a quarter-mile to a Y. Turn left and climb through mixed forest, avoiding spurs on the left and right. Just after crossing a creek, look for a switchback to the left, which recrosses the creek,
At about 1-1/2 miles the logging road ends and becomes a true trail, climbing a half-mile to West Tiger Railroad Grade at 1,900 feet.
Cross the railroad grade and continue climbing through forest and shrubs to the mostly bald summit at 2,522 feet, with views of the Snoqualmie Valley, the Cascades and Puget Sound. In summer stay for the sunset, then hike down by headlamp.
Trail data
Five miles round trip to the summit of West Tiger, with an elevation gain of approximately 2,000 feet. Do not leave valuables in your car, as there have been break-ins at this trailhead.
For more information, refer to "Walks and Hikes in the Foothills & Lowlands Around Puget Sound," by Harvey and Penny Manning (The Mountaineers, $14.95).
For information about OSAT, call 236-9674.
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