Trip Report
Day Hike - Tiger Mountain Trail
Our moderate conditioning hike turned into more workout than anticipated. One person said, "I'm feeling muscles in my arms that I didn't think were part of this conditioning routine".
Roseanne Lorenzana
- Wed, Mar 6, 2024
- Day Hike - Tiger Mountain Trail
- Tiger Mountain Trail
- Day Hiking
- Successful
-
- Road suitable for all vehicles
-
Started at 8am, air temperature 30º. Icy trail conditions started a few hundred feet up the Cable Line trail and remained that way above ~1000' elevation. The icy switchbacks on north facing Nook trail were a challenge to come down.
What was supposed to be a short, moderate 4 mile hike to gain a bit of conditioning turned into a slip-n-slide adventure. Our route: TMT→Cable Line→Talus Rocks→Nook→Round the Lake. This route involves only 0.25 mile on Cable Line, but due to the ice covered trail, it took us 30 minutes to accomplish, sometimes on hands & knees (arghh...forgot the microspikes). Icy or slippery compacted, frozen rain-slick snow trail conditions almost continuous to the Talus Rocks and down the Nook trail until reaching lower elevations. The sun was shining but none reached the trails; so, these conditions may persist for awhile after it warms up.
Talus Rocks were quite photogenic today! Plus lots of hair ice along the trail (forms on moist, rotting wood from broadleaf trees when temperatures are slightly under 32 °F and the air is humid ... conditions uniquely Issaquah Alps-ish).
