03-25-25
After
a cool winter we had the
first 70F day of the year arriving. I made sure to keep my schedule
open for an afternoon hike. We met at HPE at 2:25 pm and David drove us
the short distance to the start of the Preston Trail. We had 70F at the
start. We had the rocky part at the start then pretty good trail for
the rest of the day. Once the Preston Trail starts going up it mostly
keeps it up. I thought it might be cooler in the forest and it was.
However, not too cool for shorts and short sleeves. We were on the
lookout for the first wildflowers of the season. Others have been
seeing them on other Tiger Mountain trails the past few weeks. First we
saw salmonberry flowers, then yellow violets, and finally some
coltsfoot in bloom. There were not a lot of them but there were a few.
We turned off on the short cut trail. It is shorter but also steeper.
It makes for a good workout. Unlike other steep trails on Tiger this
one is pretty smooth. There were a lot of cars at the west and east end
of High Point. At the start of the Preston Trail there were no cars. We
had complete solitude heading up.
We were a little concerned that the short cut trail might still have logs over it from the big November storm. Gary and I headed out on the main Preston trail after the storm and we limbed and cut out smaller trees all the way up. On the short cut trail, we only saw one tree down and it had been cut out. When we reached the main Preston Trail, it was time for a break. It has been many months since it has been warm enough to have me sweating profusely. After a little food and water we were back on our way. I don't hike this trail often enough to note many landmarks. I kept waiting for the old railroad grade and it took much longer than I expected. From there it is not far to the next junction. David was a bit slower and at the junction we decided Gary, John, and I would take the slightly longer spur trail to the lower towers and walk the road to the top. David chose to stay on the Preston Trail to the top. At the top of the Preston Trail we went left on the Boot Leg Trail then uphill to the towers. There are two big fans blowing through the fence as we passed the towers. This was a chance to cool off. I stayed there the longest.
We headed up the road to the summit of Tiger 1. Mt Baker was lost in clouds but as we ascended we had good longs back to the Cascade front peaks. Three Fingers, Mt. Index, and Mt. Teneriffe had fresh snow on top. To the south, we had a good look at Mt. Rainier. It was partly in the clear and partly in clouds. We went to the top and then saw David reaching the top. We dropped down and took a right turn on the trail around the summit. So far we had seen a few small patches of snow off the trail and the top was about snow free. That was it for the day. We popped out of the trees at the Hikers Hut at 4:50 pm. We had covered 3.8 miles in 2:16 including all stops.
There was one other hiker at the small bench. We took a nice long break in about 70F sunshine. I was getting hot just sitting there. The one guy left and we had the spot to ourselves. At 5:06 we started heading down. We had clear views of Tiger 2 and slightly hazy views west to Seattle and the Olympic Mountains. We did see some runners between the summits. We were atop Tiger 2 at 5:21 pm. That left us with two full hours until sunset. At 5:30 it was time to descend. The hike down was pleasant. It was still warm though we had little direct sunshine in the forest. The creeks had a good flow after recent rain and snow melt. We passes some bit devil's club patches and they have not yet begun to leaf out. We had one more uphill after Fred's Straighaway then it was almost all downhill. At Ruth's Cove, we saw skunk cabbage leaves. Just a few weeks earlier there were none. Down on the High Point Trail we saw one skunk cabbage with yellow showing. We also saw more yellow violets and coltsfoot in bloom then a few trillium. One trillium was flowering.
We made it down to the gate and the cars at 7:20 pm. That was seven minutes before sunset. John drove David back to this car at the Preston Trailhead and Gary and I headed for home. It was really nice to be out hiking with shorts and short sleeves again. The last 70 degree day back in October was along time ago. In a few months I will be complaining about too much heat but for now a 70 degree day really felt good. The next day we had a bit thunderstorm and temperatures were back in the low 50s. Spring is coming but is still a few weeks away. For now, it was nice to have a short preview.
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Trips - 2025
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We were a little concerned that the short cut trail might still have logs over it from the big November storm. Gary and I headed out on the main Preston trail after the storm and we limbed and cut out smaller trees all the way up. On the short cut trail, we only saw one tree down and it had been cut out. When we reached the main Preston Trail, it was time for a break. It has been many months since it has been warm enough to have me sweating profusely. After a little food and water we were back on our way. I don't hike this trail often enough to note many landmarks. I kept waiting for the old railroad grade and it took much longer than I expected. From there it is not far to the next junction. David was a bit slower and at the junction we decided Gary, John, and I would take the slightly longer spur trail to the lower towers and walk the road to the top. David chose to stay on the Preston Trail to the top. At the top of the Preston Trail we went left on the Boot Leg Trail then uphill to the towers. There are two big fans blowing through the fence as we passed the towers. This was a chance to cool off. I stayed there the longest.
We headed up the road to the summit of Tiger 1. Mt Baker was lost in clouds but as we ascended we had good longs back to the Cascade front peaks. Three Fingers, Mt. Index, and Mt. Teneriffe had fresh snow on top. To the south, we had a good look at Mt. Rainier. It was partly in the clear and partly in clouds. We went to the top and then saw David reaching the top. We dropped down and took a right turn on the trail around the summit. So far we had seen a few small patches of snow off the trail and the top was about snow free. That was it for the day. We popped out of the trees at the Hikers Hut at 4:50 pm. We had covered 3.8 miles in 2:16 including all stops.
There was one other hiker at the small bench. We took a nice long break in about 70F sunshine. I was getting hot just sitting there. The one guy left and we had the spot to ourselves. At 5:06 we started heading down. We had clear views of Tiger 2 and slightly hazy views west to Seattle and the Olympic Mountains. We did see some runners between the summits. We were atop Tiger 2 at 5:21 pm. That left us with two full hours until sunset. At 5:30 it was time to descend. The hike down was pleasant. It was still warm though we had little direct sunshine in the forest. The creeks had a good flow after recent rain and snow melt. We passes some bit devil's club patches and they have not yet begun to leaf out. We had one more uphill after Fred's Straighaway then it was almost all downhill. At Ruth's Cove, we saw skunk cabbage leaves. Just a few weeks earlier there were none. Down on the High Point Trail we saw one skunk cabbage with yellow showing. We also saw more yellow violets and coltsfoot in bloom then a few trillium. One trillium was flowering.
We made it down to the gate and the cars at 7:20 pm. That was seven minutes before sunset. John drove David back to this car at the Preston Trailhead and Gary and I headed for home. It was really nice to be out hiking with shorts and short sleeves again. The last 70 degree day back in October was along time ago. In a few months I will be complaining about too much heat but for now a 70 degree day really felt good. The next day we had a bit thunderstorm and temperatures were back in the low 50s. Spring is coming but is still a few weeks away. For now, it was nice to have a short preview.
 Lower Preston Trail |
 Salmonberry Flower |
 Yellow Violet |
 Cut Logs |
 A Little Snow |
 Cascade Mt. Peaks |
 Three Fingers Mountain |
 Near Tiger 1 Summit |
 Tiger 2 From Tiger 1 |
 View To The North |
 West Rattlesnake Mt. |
 John Leaving Tiger 1 |
 Road Up Tiger 2 |
 Seattle & Olympics |
 Seattle Close Up |
 David, John, & Gary |
 Mt. Rainier |
 Rainier & Eagles |
 Mts. Teneriffe & Si |
 On The Road Again |
 T3 & Lake Sammamish |
 Small Cascade |
 First Skunk Cabbage |
 Hiking In Forest |
 Blooming Skunk Cabbage |
 Yellow Violet Again |
 Blooming Trillium |
 Coltsfoot |
Trips - 2025
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