West Tiger Mountain

It was a beautiful memorial day! Bright and sunny with the temperatures in the upper sixties - what more can I ask for to go on a hiking trip in this often rainy and overcast Pacific Northwest? So I decided this is the perfect day to start my hiking activities for the year.

It is a short drive from my home to the High Point trail head for hiking into the Tiger Mountains, which is also true for all the outdoor lovers in the greater Seattle area. Therefore on any given weekend, I would expect to see and pass a lot of hikers on the trails. The small parking space was already full by the time I reached there around 10:30 and vehicles were parked by the roadside leading from the I-90 exit all the way to the trail head.

The Tiger Mountain has six summits, of which there are three that hikers often visit. The most popular one is #3. The trail is a pretty wide and moderately steep one and is fairly maintained. There are also host of trails that crisscross the hole mountain leading to different viewpoints and summits. It would be easy to get lost if you do not have a map to guide you and you stray from the marked trails. Even though most of the trails are really are marked yet it might be difficult to find your way without a map as I discovered firsthand during my first foray into the tiger mountains a couple of years ago .

After parking my car on the roadside, at 10:40 am, I headed towards the summit #3 where most others headed as well. On my way, I passed several people in both directions- some alone, some in groups. Just before reaching the summit, I had an opportunity to interact with a group of well hiked hikers about level of difficulties of this trail compared to other trails. One of them liked my terming the Mount Si trail as 'relentless'. They mentioned the 'Mailbox' as a tough one. I have not been to that trail yet. I reached the number three by noon, and it was a zoo of people up there; I did not find a rock to sit down that was not taken already by other people. A lot of the people were there standing, soaking up the sun and the views all around. You could see the other nearby mountains, summits, and the Lake Sammamish at a distance.

I preferred to get away from the crowd and headed towards summit#2. There was hardly anybody on the trail, except for a group of college kids having a little picnic at a viewpoint on the trail side. Ten minutes later, I was up there, where I met with two elderly people who graciously agreed to be photographed for my camera. It is a very good idea to head to #2 or to #1 for that matter, if you liked quietness more than a crowd at your your destination.

Since I had time to spare, I went on to summit #1, which is just 8-10 minutes further away. I passed just one hiker on my way and again met just one couple on top who agreed to click a couple of pictures with me in them. Apart from hiking to the highest summit, the other most rewarding feature of summit#1 is the beautiful view of the Mt. Rainier in the distance seemingly perched above the clouds, which is well worth the extra effort to get there. Soaking up the views all around, I ate my lunch there and headed back at 12:45. I was back at the trail head by 2:05 pm.