Tiger Mountain Loop - 16 miles

I noticed on the map of Tiger Mountain that it would be possible to do a loop hike, IF I was willing to walk a few more miles.

Me, walk more miles? Give me a challenge, new trails, and time, and I'm off!

I arrived at the trail head at 6:30 and headed out on the Northwest Timber Trail. The grade was easy and the forest was spectacular. Over several of the streams there are sturdy wooden bridges. Birds were flitting from branch to branch. At one point the trail breaks out with a view across the valley.

There are several areas with moss-covered limbs.

I stood under an ancient stump.

One of the many wooden bridges over rushing streams.

Views of the surrounding hills from the Northwest Timber trail.

The Northwest timber trail exits onto the Tiger Mountain Road. I headed north, walking for almost two miles. The road is an easy walk (mostly level) with only one climb. There are several new trails heading up the mountain from the road, but they were not marked.

I finally arrived at the Preston Railroad Trail, which was well marked.

Start of the Preston Railroad Trail. 

I followed the Preston Railroad trail for three miles. It switch-backs up East Tiger mountain with an easy but steady grade. This is a popular trail used by mountain bikers, who travel down the trail. I saw five bikers who were all very friendly.

View while walking up the Preston Railroad Trail.

At the top, the trail exits onto the Main Tiger Mountain Road. I headed west on the road and then headed up a spur road about a half mile to where the Middle Tiger Trail starts.

Spur road leading to the Middle Tiger Trail.

There were some good views across the valley to West Tiger Mountain. Along the top are many cell and radio towers.

View of West Tiger Mountain.

 The Middle Tiger Trail joins to the Tiger Mountain Trail. I had walked this section of the trail last week and it goes by the train wreck site and then exits to the West Side Road 1000. I headed down the road and took the Iverson Railroad Trail back to the car.

Headed up the Iverson Railroad Trail

 The map below shows the route I took (blue line).

The loop route (blue). I walked it counter-clockwise. The distance is about 16 miles.

This hike was mostly easy walking, with a few steep sections. I was pleasantly surprised that the Preston Railroad Trail was an easy grade. The Middle Tiger Trail is the only one I would consider difficult, especially coming down from the top of Middle Tiger to where the trail meets the Tiger Mountain Trail.

Tiger Mountain - Iverson Railroad Trail to Middle Tiger Trail - 9.5 miles

It's Monday. Back to the grind... but WAIT, what's this? I looked outside. It was a picture perfect day. I have lots of vacation, so I headed home at 8 and was on the trail by 9:30.

I decided to walk the Iverson Railroad Trail. This is a moderately easy trail with a few ups and downs, but nothing extreme. The following map shows the route I took today.

My route: Iverson Railroad Trail to Middle Tiger to Tiger Mountain Trail and back.

Start of the Iverson Railroad Trail

The Iverson Railroad Trail is about 1.8 miles long and goes through beautiful second-growth forest. There are several bridges over the larger streams, and it was very pretty in the filtered sunlight.

I am standing on one of the wooden bridges. Very pretty in the filtered sunlight

The trail comes out onto the West Tiger Road. I saw the trail the last time I walked on Tiger Mountain, but the trail doesn't have a sign where it meets the road. Now I know what trail it is, and where it goes!

I followed the West Tiger Road about two miles. There is one intersection where the West Tiger Road is not marked. One branch heads up hill; the other heads down. The West Tiger Road heads DOWN. Fortunately, I chose the correct road. I came to the Middle Tiger Trail and headed up. After a very short distance, the trail branches. I was tempted to take the Hobart Middle Tiger Railroad trail, because the sign gave the distance to the site of the curved trestle. It sounded very interesting.

Instead, I took the Middle Tiger Trail, which runs for one mile and then meets the Tiger Mountain Trail. I should have learned my lesson from the last time I took the Middle Tiger Trail. One mile means, "one mile straight up". This one really worked my leg muscles. It took most of an hour to make it to the top.

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 At one of my frequent stops on the way up, I did manage to capture some of the pretty trees in the sunlight.

On the way up the Middle Tiger Trail. Very pretty trees in the sunlight.

I was tempted to take the Hobart-Middle Tiger Trail to check out the "site of the curved trestle".

Not sure what these flowers are, but they were very pretty. Again, a picture taken at one of my many rest stops.

The trail goes like this for one mile. It doesn't look steep, but it is relentless.

 At the top, the trail joins the Tiger Mountain Trail. I took a break, took off my socks and shoes and ate a Snickers bar. While I was there, another gentleman came up the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) and we talked for a bit. He had a GPS unit and a map. I told him that the Middle Tiger Trail went down to the road and up to the top of the hill. He seemed confused, but since he had a map I presume he finally decided which trail he was going to take.

Junction of the Middle Tiger Trail and the Tiger Mountain Trail. I rested here to eat and re-hydrate.

I took the Tiger Mountain Trail back, since this was the same trail that I hiked a few days ago. There were lots of pretty white flowers along the trail.

Pretty white flowers along the Tiger Mountain Trail.

As I headed back along the Iverson Railroad Trail, a little chipmunk posed for a picture. The red-eye makes the little guy look evil.

Chipmunk stopped long enough for me to get a picture.

I would recommend this hike to anyone wanting a good mix of easy, moderate and strenuous trails. Round trip is about 9.5 miles, which took me about four hours, including about a half-hour break for lunch.

Tiger Mountain - Train Wreck Site and Middle Tiger Summit - 9 miles round trip

I have discovered Tiger Mountain.
Sure, it's always been there. And, just about everyone else in the Seattle area has hiked or biked there.

Now I'm hooked.
I found a map on the Siwtchbacks.com site and read an article about a fatal train wreck on the mountain and a trail that leads to it. I couldn't resist.

I got to the trail-head at 6:40 AM and drove to the upper parking lot. I was the only one there!
There was a map of the trails on the mountain, and I have annotated it to show where I was headed.

My starting point (You are Here), the train wreck site, and Middle Tiger peak

 The sun was just rising, and was beautiful through the forest. The first part of the hike was two miles up a gravel road. There were several splashing streams along the way, many wildflowers, and birds singing in the trees. It was magical!

Sun peeking through the trees

 At just over two miles, I found the turn off to the Tiger Mountain Trail. It was well marked. In another half mile, I came to where the trail made a sharp left turn. About ten yards ahead was a small sign on a tree identifying the Artifact trail.

Artifact trail sign - it's not very big and would be easy to miss.

 Just ahead lies the wreckage, or what's left of it. There are iron wheels, twisted metal and further on, the remains of a rail car, although twisted beyond recognition. The story goes that the train was carrying a load of logs and lost its brakes. At this spot, the tracks turned and crossed over Holder Creek. The train was traveling too fast and flew off the tracks, killing one man. Most of the wreckage was salvaged, but it still is interesting to look about and imagine what it must have been like almost 100 years ago.

Wheels from one of the train cars.

I made a short video at the site.

Heading back to the Tiger Mountain Trail, I decided to head on up since it was still early in the morning. The trail crossed a logging road and there were views of the Kent valley. It was too hazy to see much detail, but on a clear day, it would have been fantastic.

View NE towards the Kent valley.

On the way, there were a few views of Mount Rainier through the trees.

Mount Rainier in the distance

 I then came to the Middle Tiger Trail. At only 1/2 mile, I figured it would be a quick trip. What the sign DIDN'T say, was that it was 1/2 mile straight UP!

Middle Tiger Trail - only 1/2 mile

Well, I was here to do some body conditioning, and body conditioning I got! I drank almost a liter of water on the way up, which took me forty minutes. I obviously was not moving very fast. At the top, I was disappointed in that it was completely forested. No view. There was, however, a tepee of sorts, built from branches.

Tepee at the top of Middle Tiger

I took a break, pulled off my shoes and socks, and let my feet cool. I was midway through with eating my Snicker's candy bar, when I thought, hey, I could make a quick video. Memo to self: don't try to narrate a video with food still in your mouth! Also, get the name of the mountain right. It's Middle Tiger.

As the wind was beginning to pick up, I headed back. 

I only saw six people during the entire hike, and they were on cross-country bikes, and were just riding up the road about a mile from the parking lot. It was a great day and I am excited to explore more trails at my next opportunity.