Squak Mountian - March 29, 2012

After a few weeks of not running in the Issaquah Alps, I was excited to get back out there.  I felt pretty recovered from my first 50k and already motivated to get back into the mountains and work those hills.  This morning was especially exciting because we had a nice big group (5 of us), including special guest star and old friend Steve Dekoker.  Because Peter and I were still coming back a bit from Chuckanut, we decided to keep it pretty easy and do Squak Mountain today.

DeKoker, Daniel, Mikey, Peter and I started out from Peter's place in Issaquah and headed west toward Issaquah's closest mountain.  This was our first "peak a week" starting out in pouring down rain.  But no one seemed to mind and we even looked a little forward to getting a little muddy.  After running a mile or so on some back streets we arrived at the north side of Squak Mountain State Park and entered the trails via Sunrise Place onto Squak Mountain Access Trail (appropriately named).  Despite the rain, the trails weren't as muddy as I anticipated.

We soon started climbing the east side of the mountain on the tough switchbacks of the East Ridge Trail.  Unlike last time (see January 12th blog post) we ran this trail, there was no cool views through the trees because we were completely socked in with low clouds.  Once again, taking a left up the steep Summit Trail was very challenging, especially today with all the slipping and sliding in the muddy sections, which this trail had a good deal of.  When we hit the access road to the top, we took the right that takes you to the top of the mountain, elevation 2,024 feet.  We stopped for a minute or so to regroup and take in some quick carbs.  If clear, there's a slight view north toward Lake Samammish over the top of the trees, but none today in the rain.

Bullitt Fireplace. Photo by Dwayne Wright

We came down the mountain on the west side, passing the cool Bullitt fireplace and continuing up the West Peak Trail (forgetting this uphill from last time..."What's this doing here!!") to the Chybinski Loop Trail.  Instead of coming out of the trails onto the Renton-Issaquah Road like last time.  We curved north and finished our decent off the mountain on the Coal Mine Trail to the Mountainside Drive trailhead.  We then followed Peter on the roads through some Issaquah neighborhoods and back into downtown at a good pace...especially considering we were getting a bit cold and hungry.

All in all it was a nice easy run on Squak Mountain and we all seemed to enjoy each others company immensely, talking, joking and laughing most of the time during the run.  Looking back at my intentions for starting these runs, it's pretty cool to realize that a double digit run up with a little over 2,000 feet elevation gain is now an easy run.  So far, my goals for these runs (getting stronger up hill, taking advantage of all the beautiful trails east of Seattle, enjoying the camaraderie that comes from trail running; to name a few) have been accomplished and I've enjoyed every step.  

Of course, the best part of the morning was the post-run coffee, biscuits and gravy at the Issaquah Cafe with our friendly waitress Joni.  There's nothing like a big greasy breakfast after a hard "peak a week!"


Run Stats:  Total Distance: 11 miles   Time: 1:33    Elevation Gain: ~ 2,150 ft.    Pace: 8:28

Chuckanut 50k - March 17, 2012

So I've debated with myself whether or not I should include a race as a "Peak a Week" post.  I've decided that, if anything, it would be good for me to do so.  Mainly because I plan on running the Chuckanut 50k again next year and it will be nice to look back at my own race report in order to hopefully learn something that can help me run faster next year.

My first 50k was an amazing experience and I recommend it to any runner who enjoys trails and challenging oneself.  While going to school and later working in Bellingham, I always envisioned myself doing the Chuckanut 50k before I'd ever do a marathon.  Although this didn't happen (I ran the Portland Marathon last October), I was thrilled at the opportunity to finally do this event after years of dreaming about it.  I spent hundreds of miles on Chuckanut's beautiful trails throughout my running career at WWU and there couldn't have been a better place for me to do my first 50k.

Thanks to our months of peakin', I felt well prepared for the challenge and was ready to go.  On my two training runs on the mountain ("Middle 19" on Feb. 19 and March 1) I'd felt pretty good and was confident that I knew the course well.  The week before the race, I'd taken it easy, only running 19 miles and tapering well.  I was peaking (no pun intended) for this race and was ready to go.  At least I thought I was.  Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly as planned.

The morning of, it was cold (high 30's) and raining; I knew there would be snow at the top.  I hadn't slept great and I wasn't very hungry.  I still managed to eat a banana and a few pieces of toast with honey.  On the way to the race I got a message from Mikey that he'd overslept and wasn't going to be able to make it.  Man...what a bummer!  After all of our preparation and anticipation for this big event I felt so bad for him missing it.  I got to the race only 30 minutes before the start (I'm usually a one hour ahead of time warm-uper, but figuring it was such a long race, cold and rainy, I didn't want to arrive that early) and checked in.  I found Peter shortly thereafter and we warmed up together for a few minutes before heading to the warm and dry train station a few hundred yards from the start.  After going to the bathroom and rolling my legs a little, I realized I only had 5 minutes to the start and hadn't even put on my Brooks ID jersey nor my race shoes and dry socks.  I quickly and stressfully threw on my stuff and sprinted across the muddy parking lot to the starting line and a 30 second countdown to the start of the race. 

As soon as we started the pace felt fast (low 6's) and my stomach felt queasy.  I wasn't sure how to start a 50k and figured I was going too fast so I slowed down a bit until Peter Ellis and Dusty Caseria came up from behind me.  Since they'd both beaten me at my first trail race (Fragrance Lake 20k) and Peter routinely kicks my butt on Peak a Week runs, I filed in behind them until we got to Arroyo Park on the Interurban.  Only 5k into 50k and I was already feeling tired so I let them go and ended up running the remainder of the 'urb with a super friendly runner from Idaho named Luke Nelson. 

Me grabbing some water at mile 4...27 to go!

I was in about 30th place at this point and progressively feeling a little better.  I took the first climb up to Fragrance Lake pretty easy, enjoying the increasingly snowy scenery and taking in the magnificent beauty of the snowy lake when we got to the top of this climb.  Here, Jodee Adams-Moore got right behind me so my competitive juices started firing and we quickly caught up to a couple of runners and passed them.  Coming down Two Dollar Bill I realized it was foolish to start racing already so I let her and another dude get away and relaxed as I came into aid-station #2 on Cleator Road. 

Here I had my awesome support team of Kate, my dad, Felicia and Greg waiting for me with a water-bottle and some Cliff Blocks.  After some confusion and a few people passing me up, I got what I needed and headed up the longest climb on the course, a little under 3 miles.  At first I was upset that my transition getting fuel had taken too long but after a few minutes this regret making me feel terrible physically, I decided to let it go and just relax and enjoy the difficult climb the best I could.  It's amazing how much your mental state can affect the way you feel physically when you are running or doing any sport for that matter. 

Aid-Station #2...it was St. Patrick's Day!

Once I relaxed and got moving I passed several runners going up Cleater, including both women who were in front of me as well as a few dudes that had started out too fast. (I have to admit, one of my original goals was to NOT be beat by any girls.  But after getting my butt whooped by the great Ellie Greenwood I have no shame...it was actually an honor to run with her for a bit during the race.)  Once I got to aid station #3 and Chuckanut Ridge, I dropped my little hand-held bottle and managed to down a Gu.  I was feeling much better at this point and was now in 23rd place.  Through this most technical part of the race I tried to focus as much as I could so as not to slip on the snowy and slick trail that offered plenty of opportunities to do so.  Here, Adams-Moore and I helped push each other (she'd gain on me on the down hills, I'd pull away a bit on the ups) for about 30 minutes until we finally descended to Lost Lake Trail and the mud that awaited us. 

On top of the Ridge.  Photo by M. Lebowitz.

Near the end of the Ridge Trail I caught and ended up running next to another very friendly runner for the next 40 minutes or so.  His name was Jacob Puzey (little did I know, Jake had written the main race preview through Flotrail that I'd read earlier in the week.) and I really enjoyed talking with him and pushing one another through the muddy section of the course.  Once we hit the top of Chinscrapper (yes, I did crawl on all fours up that sucker!) I had to let him go and basically go it alone from the top of Cleator Road/aid-station #4, down Fragrance Lake Rd, through aid-station #5, and all the way to the finish at Fairhaven Park in Bellingham. 

Peter rockin' chinscraper.  Photo by Glenn Tachiyama

Long story short:  I started getting real tired at about 35k (yes, basically the farthest I ran in preparation) while coming down hill.  The down hill KILLED my legs and a bunch of people passed me...ok, only 4 but it felt like a lot.  Once I got to the flat of the interurban I felt like I was dying running 7:40/mile pace (felt like I was running 10's).  My hamstrings seized up and I was soooooo thirsty and I just concentrated on one step at a time and getting to the finish.  Somehow, I made it without stopping and finished in 28th place in 4:15:41 (8:18/m pace).  Right when I finished I puked a little and it was very difficult to eat for a while but all in all I felt much better than I did right after the Portland marathon last October.  Team Newhouse came through and they brought me lots of recovery food (pizza never tasted so good) and even payed for me to get a post race message. 

Kate and I after the race.  She's a pretty good crew member...I think I'll keep her.

The race was by far the most challenging and difficult race I'd ever done and it greatly humbled me.  I honestly thought I'd be more competitive, finishing in the top 20 and beating 4:10 pretty easily.  In the end, I was pretty happy that I was only 5 minutes or so from my goal time despite the weather and how terrible I felt for a large portion of the race.  Right away I was already looking forward to running it again next year and knowing that I'd have to train much harder with many more long (over 4 hour) runs to properly prepare myself and truly reach my race goals. 

Another one of my goals for next year is to get as many 'peak a weekers' to join me for this fantastic and epic race.  Who's down!?  (by the way, Peter killed it and finished in 6th place in 3:54:05.  Way to represent Petey!)

Run Stats:  Total Distance: 31.5 miles   Time: 4:15:41    Elevation Gain: ~ 4,500 ft.    Pace: 8:18

Tiger 3, 2, 1, Unmaintained - March 8, 2012

On this beautiful, sunny Thursday morning, we did our first repeat run since we started "peak a weekin'" back in October.  You may remember, Daniel, Michael and I did South Tiger 3, 2, 1 on February 16, but ended up getting lost trying to get back to Poo Poo Point Trail.  If you didn't read about our lost adventure where we somehow ended up right below Poo Poo Point, check out that blog called "Tiger 3,2, 1, Lost Poo Poo!"

This morning, we were determined to come back down the mountain via the Poo Poo Point Trail without getting lost.  You may be able to determine by the title of this post whether or not we succeeded, but either way it was a great morning run on Tiger Mountain...as it always is.  As usual, we started chez Peter but entered the mountain via the High School Trail behind Issaquah H.S.  Once we hit Section Line Trail, it was are usual way up to #3: Section Line, Talus Rocks, and West Tiger 3 Trails.

This morning, for some reason, we all felt tired and commented on how hard the final mile of West Tiger 3 Trail felt; especially as we slipped on the compacted snow and ice near the top of the peak.  At least today, unlike the last time we did 3, 2, 1, the sun was shinning bright and releasing some of it's heat onto us.   After a minute or so of rest on top of #3, we quickly headed down and up towards South Tiger #2, arriving there 5 minutes later.  This morning, we didn't stop at the summit of #2 but ran by on our way towards #1.

Running up the very steep incline that leads up to the Hiker's Hut and amazing views on # 1 was tough as usual, but somehow very enjoyable (I love the challenge!) as I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the crusty snow under our feet the the bright, somewhat warm sun over our head.  It's difficult to run to the top of South Tiger #1 and not enjoy the views for a few minutes.  This is by the far the best views we have found on Tiger Mountain:  south to Rainier, west over Puget Sound and the valley below, north towards Seattle and Lake Washington.  It's fun to stand on top of the bench up there and try to find landmarks throughout the Puget Sound area. 

View south from West Tiger #1.  Mt. Rainier in background.

Now it was time to get our route right coming down the mountain.  Just like last time, we headed down #1 the way we came up, took a left at the bottom of the hill on old Main Tiger Mountain Road, then a right onto Poo Top Trail.  This time, when we got to Larry's Crossing, we took a right on One View Trail (this is where I messed up last time, leading us straight onto Hidden Forest Trail), then a fairly quick right onto Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT!).  Then....we got lost and somehow ended up between West Tiger #3 and #2.  It seems as though we took TMT too far and should have taken a left onto Seattle View Trail, but we missed that trail and I still haven't ran on it yet.

Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun the way we came down.  From West Tiger #3, we took the Cableline Trail about 50 meters, then saw a trail to the left heading straight down the mountain called "Unmaintained Trail."  Well, it didn't look unmaintained, and it turned out it wasn't.  This "Unmaintained Trail" was in quiet good shape and very, very steep coming down.  We haven't done it yet, but if you need a really good, challenging, high grade trail to do, run up this one.  It isn't labeled on the map, but it's there, coming off of "Section Line Trail" where that trail intersects with "Talus Rocks Trail."  We had fun running down the mountain in such a quick fashion, working hard on those breaking muscles on the lower legs, trying to keep our feet under us.

If you see this sign near West Tiger #3, take it!  It's a great trail.

Another South Tiger 3, 2, 1, another great run.  This is obviously one of our favorites and I highly recommend it, no matter what way you come down the mountain.

Run Stats:  Total Distance: 14.7 miles   Time: 2:10    Elevation Gain: ~ 2,600 ft.    Pace: 8:50

Chuckanut Mountain - March 1, 2012

For our first Peak a Week outside of King County, we decided to head up to Chuckanut Mountain in Whatcom County this Thursday morning, March 1.  With the Chuckanut 50k coming up on March 17, Micahel, Peter and I wanted to review the course and show Michael around the mountain, since he'd never ran up there before.  Peter and I, on the other hand, have spent miles and miles on the trails all over Chuckanut, being XC and T&F runners for WWU in Bellingham.

Running in Bellingham is amazing, for those of you who have spent any time there know well.  There's many choices of amazing trails: Lake Padden, Galbraith Mt., Whatcom Falls, Interurban, Blanchard Mt, Stimpson, Sehome Hill, etc.  However, the crown jewel, in my opinion, is Chuckanut Mountain.  It's hard to beat for it's variety and beauty: steep ridges, cliffs, great views, epic lookouts (of cascades, Mt. Baker, Bellingham, west Skagit Valley, San Juan Islands), serene mountain lakes, singletrack, doubletrack, old railroad grades and logging roads, lots of loops and best of all, it's runnable from town.  In college, I took full advantage, running the myriad of trails there: Pine and Cedar Lakes, Raptor Ridge, Fragrance Lake, Lost Lake, the Ridge and Chinscraper.  What's great about the 50k is that it utilizes most of these trails (sans Pine and Cedar Lakes and Raptor Ridge), while adding Arroyo Park, 2-Dollar Bill and Cleater Road.

This morning, we decided to run the "middle 19" of the 50k (see map).  This is essentially the hilly part of the race, taking out the beginning and end of the race that starts and finishes on the Interurban Trail from Fairhaven.   We parked at the Clayton Beach parking lot, happy that it wasn't raining on this cool, overcast day.  Starting on the 'urb, we ran north to Fragrance Lake trailhead and headed up the mountain, enjoying the easy and gentle switchbacks that took us up to the lake.  Once we got there, we circled the lake counter clockwise and took a right onto 2-Dollar Bill Trail.  This is where we got our first views of Teddy Bear Cove and the San Juan Islands through the tall trees to our left/west.  After a mile or so on this fun singletrack, we switchbacked our way down to Cleater Road.  Here, we ascended the road for 3 miles (a real grind) until we were near the top of the Mountain (elevation ~2,000 ft.).

Beginning of Fragrance Lake Trail

According to the Chuckanut 50k website, "Here is where the fun begins."  Right before the top of the road, we took a left onto the Ridge Trail.  This is the trail where I first fell in love with trail running in Bellingham, running it for the first time in 2001 while following my Western teammate and underground trail legend Patrick Murphy.  This epic trail runs north and south along the crest of the mountain and is very technical compared to the rest of the course.  The views can be spectacular and the footing difficult...not the best combo.  We let Michael get the full ridge experience and lead this section for nearly three miles.  This morning, the trail was covered in a splendid white powder, actually helping our footing on the slippery granite slabs and sudden dips and climbs. 

Great Photo of Ridge Trail by DJan.  It looked like this on our run, with a little white stuff mixed in.

At the far north end of the Ridge Trail, we took in the B-ham view from the cliffs while refueling before we took Dan's Traverse down to Lost Lake Road.  At this intersection, we went right towards the lake, surprised at how difficult this "not so hard" seeming uphill felt after the technical part of our run.  After the first half mile or so on the old dirt road, the trail narrows and flattens out, which gave our legs a nice little break before we got into the mud pits that are synonymous with Lost Lake.  As you get closer to the lake, the trail gets more and more muddy, until you are literally running through a small stream.  Right before the lake, we took the junction that turns right and takes you above and past Lost Lake.  Being proud that I had kept my feet fairly dry through the wettest part of the run, I of course submerged my right foot into a fresh mudhole trying to sissy-foot it through a muddy section.

The trail rises again here, the 3rd out of 4 main climbs (Fragrance, Cleater Rd, Lost Lake, Chinscraper) on the course, but also the easiest of the four.  For me, this is mentally the hardest part of the run.  After this climb, you know the top of chincraper is just above you to the right, just within reach.  But to get there, you have run a long downhill, knowing that each step downhill equals a very difficult step uphill a little later.  Once the trail levels off a bit and right before we got to Fragrance Lake Road, we took a right onto the infamous Chinscraper Trail (or Little Chinscraper as some call it).  This is by far the steepest climb of the course and the last major ascent to the top of Chuckanut Mountain.  One thing that's nice about it however, is that there are little (very little, but still) breaks between three main climbs here, always allowing me to get my breath back and regroup before the next uphill.  The final one is a beast, actually requiring you to use your hands in some places so as not to fall or slip backwards.  I usually even use my arms going past some of the trees near the end, grabbing a branch or trunk and pulling myself up as I run.  This morning, it felt great getting to the top, enjoying the fresh snow on the ground as hydration as we waited for one another to finish the climb. 

About 70 yards before the mountain crest, we turned left on a little trail and ran down to the top of the Cleator Road parking area. From the parking area, we continued down Cleator Road for about a mile, all of us feeling pretty good that the hard part of the run was over.  At least that's what I was thinking.  Turns out I was wrong; that part was just ahead.  After the road levels off for just a bit, we passed a gate and turned sharply left (hairpin) onto a wide trail marked "Fragrance Lake".  We then continued downhill on this trail until it become Fragrance Lake Road.  This was the most painful part of the run.  This road is a 3 mile quad-buster and just as Peter had told us it would be, this portion of the run killed the legs.  Fortunately on this run, once we hit the bottom of the road and Clayton Beach parking lot, we were back at our cars and done for the day. 

Cool view of Chuckanut Mt. from east.  We ran red to purple to green to yellow.

I had to walk around a bit in the parking lot afterwards to try to get the downhill pain out of my legs (as if that's possible).  Lucky for us, we had a short 10 minute drive into Bellingham and a Bob's Burgers for some mean eating recovery food.  I had the Breakfast Burger (w/ bacon and eggs), fries and a delicious hefeweizen to wash it down.  Thanks for driving back to Seattle Mikey, I don't think I could have done it after all that. 

For more info and directions: http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/parks/trails/chuckanut.jsp

Run Stats:  Total Distance: 20 miles   Time: 2:56:34    Elevation Gain: ~ 4,500 ft.    Pace: 8:49

East Tiger Mountain & West #1 - Feb. 23, 2012

A few weeks back, while looking up the the elevations of all the peaks in the Issaquah Alps, I realized that West Tiger Peak # 1 (2,948 feet (899 m)) was NOT the highest summit on Tiger Mountain.  That title went to East Tiger Mountain, elevation 3,004 feet (916 m).  Therefore, Michael and I decided we'd gone too long on Tiger without actually peakin' the highest point.  This Thursday, February 23, would be the morning to do it...and, for good measure, we decided to throw in the second highest point on the mountain as well.

As is happens, we were both training for the Chuckanut 50k in March and knew it would be great training to do both peaks in one run; so two it was!  We started our morning run at Tiger Summit Trailhead parking lot, right next to Highway 18.  We took the scenic route to Main Tiger Mountain Road, via the bathrooms and Iverson Railroad Trail.  Once we got on the gravel road and took a left, it was a steady 3 mile climb until the road split and we took a right on Crossover Road.  Here, East Tiger is directly to your left, with some nice views of Middle and South Tiger Mountain to the right.  We followed this road for about .5 miles to the next gravel road that continues straight.  Don't take this road!  Instead, continue left, around the curve, and keep heading up.  Here, snow under our feet made the running more difficult, but we kept trudging ahead and up, hoping the top of the summit would come soon.  Sure enough, it did.  After about 8 minutes of somewhat difficult snow running, we were on top of East Tiger Mountain, enjoying the great views from the TOP of Tiger Mountain.  BOO-YA!

Top of East Tiger Mountain from Main Tiger Mountain Road below.  Take right at next Y.

After a few minutes of walking around and checking out the summit a bit (it's a rather large area with a bunch of towers), we continued back down the mountain to Main Tiger Mountain Road, passing a rather angry looking man in a service truck.  Once back on Main, we continued our run toward West Tiger #1.  As we did a few weeks back (see post "Tiger Summit to West Tiger 1 - Feb. 9, 2012"), we enjoyed Fiftteenmile Creek valley, between East and West Tiger.  We ran down into the valley, passed 15 Mile Railroad Grade rest area, then back up toward West Tiger #1.  We turned right on the road that heads up (a nice little sign on a tree points you the right direction), this time knowing the difficulty of the next mile to come.  This time, it felt easier for both of us, despite the few inches of snow covering the road.  It was nice to come back and run where we had a few weeks earlier and feel much stronger, knowing all the peakin' we'd done was paying off. 

From the east side of #1, we took the little Bypass Trail (sweet little trail!) that bypasses the summit (because it's gated off) and comes out right behind the Hiker's Hut.  Taking in the views from the top only briefly, we continued down the steep hill to Main Tiger Mountain Road.  Taking a left at the road, we ran until we hit Poo Top Trail, took a right onto the singletrack, then took a left onto Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT!) when we hit Larry's Crossing.  TMT is by far my favorite trail on Tiger Mountain; have I mentioned that yet?  This section here is a nice alternative to Main Tiger Mountain Road because the trail parallels the road from Larry's Crossing all the way to 15 Mile Railroad Grade Trail.  Here, TMT turns sharply to the south towards Paul's Cove, so we took a left on 15 Mile RR which took us back to the Road at the 15 Mile RR Grade rest area.

We passed Lone Rock on TMT right before 15 Mile Railroad Grade.

Once we got back onto Main Tiger Mountain Road, it was a direct 5 mile shot, up and back down, to our cars waiting for us at Tiger Summit Trailhead.  Overall, this was a great run; one I'd highly recommend for anyone training for an serious trail run/race.  You get two great peaks (both with great views) in on one Mountain, and it's a good training run for any ultra with more than one hard climb.  Michael and I both felt like this run, both physically and mentally, prepared us well for the Chuckanut 50k course. 

For more info on East Tiger Mountain and directions, check out:  http://www.summitpost.org/east-tiger-mountain/408366

Run Stats:  Total Distance: ~17.5 miles   Time: 2:29:41    Elevation Gain: ~ 2,700 ft.    Pace: 8:33

Tiger 3, 2, 1, Lost Poo Poo - Feb. 16, 2012

Red "Tradition Plateau" sign right off of exit 18.

After a few weeks of exploring Tiger Mountain with Michael, we wanted to show Daniel a good, hard run on his return to the mountain.  We had wanted to run West Tiger 3, 2 and 1, in that progression, since our first run up West Tiger.  We decided this was the week to do it.  Starting our run from Peter's place (even without Peter, his place has become our unofficial official starting point for most of our runs), we headed into the cold, wet mountain via the red Tradition Plateau sign next to the off-ramp of exit 18. 

We ran up West Tiger 3 the same way we had the first time: Puget Power, Wetlands, Bonneville, Section Line, Talus Rocks, and West Tiger 3.  With each switchback on West Tiger 3 Trail, the snow/ice under our feet increased and our strides shortened so as not to slip.  We came out of the forest and onto the bald summit in a complete icy mist/fog, not able to see much farther than 20 feet.  We quickly headed down West #3 and back up to #2 so we wouldn't get too cold hanging around.  We did the same from #2 to #1, this connection being a little longer and more difficult because of the steep incline on the slippery snow and ice. 

It was a great feeling getting to the top (almost..the very top is the radio towers on private property) of West Tiger 1, surrounded in a surreal white realm of whirling wind and flying snow.  We were only 2,900 feet above sea level, but to me, it felt like we could have been on the side of Rainier, fighting the elements for survival.  Lucky for us, we had the hiker's hut to hang out in and refueled/relaxed for a few minutes.

Hiker's Hut on top of West Tiger 1; far tower behind is high point of summit.

Coming out of the peaceful cover and back into the nasty winter weather stunned me for a quick second, causing me to rise too quickly under the doorway as I hit my head hard on the overhang.  I stumbled to one of the wood benches in the shelter, dazed but not confused.  Mikey and Daniel, after making sure I was ok, laughed at the clanging gong sound that my head made against the old metal hut.  After a minute or so of laughing, we charged back out into the nasty weather, going down the same steep, slick road we came up.  We took a left at the bottom of the hill on the old Main Tiger Mountain Road, wanting to descend the mountain a different way than we came up.

Once again, I was smart enough to bring a map for the second week in a row.  Once again however, we got lost.  I wanted to come down the mountain via the Poo Poo Point Trail, ending up with an easy finishing jog from Issaquah High School to Peter's house.  We took the correct right-hand turn onto Poo Top Trail, but when we came to Larry's Crossing, we accidentally went straight onto Hidden Forest Trail instead of taking a right onto One View Trail...oops!

For those of you who haven't checked out Hidden Forest Trail, it's a dandy.  It doesn't seem to get much use, so this narrow trail still had a lot of debris from January's big storms.  It also descends quickly at places without the convenience of switchbacks.  I sound like I'm making an excuse for why I would bite the dust on this trail, but it really is a difficult trail to run down with any kind of speed or smooth cadence.  Once we got to a road, we knew we were a little off, but for some reason I recommended we take a left (now that I look at the map, I have no idea why?)

So we headed south on the mountain road (name unknown?) towards Paraglider's Secret.  After 10 or so minutes of fast downhill running (I, stupidly, was pushing the pace, thinking we were getting closer to our destination, when in reality we were running away from it), we got to the S part of the road.  We finally decided that we were going the wrong direction, so after consulting our ever increasingly wet map, we decided to bite the bullet, turn around, and run back up hill...ugh!

This is when I started feeling it.  I was dragging back up the hill, a bit demoralized for getting us lost...again.  Lucky for me I have great "peak a week" running partners, and every time we came to an intersection, Daniel and Michael waited for me before we continued on.  After about 20 minutes of running up this old logging road, we came upon a very large grassy area which looked like a big lookout.  However, it was so foggy and misty that we couldn't see farther than a stone throw away.  The weird thing about this trail was that it was a major intersection, with big and little trails branching off in all directions.  We tried locating our position on my map, but at this point it was waterlogged and tearing to pieces.  We decided to take the wisest route, downhill, and luckily ran into a couple of young hikers.  We asked them if they knew where we were.  They looked at us stupidly and answered, "Poo Poo Point!"

View right below Poo Poo point, in less foggy weather. 

Turns out, we were right under Poo Poo Point, heading down Chirico trail towards Issaquah Hobart Road.
We were happy that we were closer to our finish than we thought, laughing at what those girl hikers probably thought of our "stupid" question: 'darn green-horn runners, don't even know where/what Poo Poo Point is!'
Our three mile run back into town and chez Peter's on the road was painful and long, but it actually felt good those last few hundred meters, knowing that we had accomplished much and deserving of a wonderfully huge breakfast at the Issaquah Cafe. 

Run Stats:  Total Distance: ~16.5 miles   Time: 2:21 (running)   Elevation Gain: ~ 3,200 ft.    Pace: 8:32

Tiger Summit to West Tiger 1 - Feb. 9, 2012

After our disappointment from last week (our first fail at peakin'), Michael and I were back on Tiger Mountain this week to conquer West Tiger 1 from the south.  This time, we started out a bit closer to our goal - to hedge our bets - from Tiger Summit off of Highway 18.

Our starting point; south-east side of Tiger Mountain State Forest.  We started to the left, ended to the right.

We started our run by heading northwest on the access road that passes the bathrooms on the right side of the road.  We continued a few miles until we came to Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) that crosses the road heading north and south.  We took the right onto TMT and headed north on the singletrack toward Fatal Train Wreck Site, not having to jump and climb over as many trees as the week before but still having to do so periodically.  Once we got to the Fatal Train Wreck Site however, things got interesting.  This area was torn up from January's heavy storms.  There were several large fir trees lying over the trail and it was so bad that it was hard to even see where the trail went.  If WTA can clear this part of the trail in under a year, I'll be super-impressed.  Because of the little detours involved in moving around and over the natural wreckage, we missed our intended trail, the TMT. Instead, we ended up on the Artifacts Trail, which is nice but it leads to a logging road that again led us to a dead-end - not again!

This week however, we were not going to be stopped from reaching our destination peak by a little dead-end in the road.  Instead of doubling back, we forged our way into the forest and headed uphill and north (I smartly brought a map with me this week), knowing that was the direction of West Tiger.  For about 30 minutes, Michael and I ran/walked through the forest which ended up being very fun.  We were able to actually get some good periods of running in, albeit slow, on the nice uber soft pine needle forest floor.  We were slowed a bit by having to cross a few swampy areas (Michael got a nice flesh wound on his hand) but somehow, we ended up coming out on the road that goes from East Tiger Summit to West Tiger Summit.  We were so happy to find a road (Main Tiger Mountain Road at that!) that in our hysteria we headed the wrong direction (toward East Tiger) when we continued.  Luckily, we quickly figured this out once we ran into Preston Railroad Trail (right below East Tiger Summit) and so doubled back to start the second part of our run: the climb to West Tiger 1.

A cool thing about Tiger is it's size.  Overall, there are 13,500 acres (55 km²) of designated conservation area with so many different trails and dirt/gravel roads that it's easy to get lost.  On this run, we discovered that there's a beautiful valley, Fiftteenmile Creek valley, between East and West Tiger.  We ran down into the valley, passed 15 Mile Railroad Grade rest area, then back up toward West Tiger 1.  When we turned right on the road that heads upward (a nice little sign on a tree points you the right direction), the run got VERY STEEP.  This was by far the most difficult part of the run.  The last mile to the summit is slow and tough.  Mikey and I put our heads down, stopped talking and focused on one step at a time (cliche I know, but it works).  After what seemed like forever (more like 10 minutes), we reached the top of West Tiger 1 and were rewarded with great views looking north: Lake Sammamish, Bellevue, Lake Washington and beyond.

Returning was nice because we got to go back a slightly different way which is always a bonus.  Not only that, but we ended up on the far west side of West Tiger 1 (hiker's hut) and got to take in the incredible views looking west towards Puget Sound and south toward Mt. Rainier.  We continued down the steep hill toward West Tiger 2, taking the sharp left before the gate (that heads up to #2) onto Main Tiger Mountain Road.  Once we were on this road, we took it down, back up and back down (you got to love the secluded Fifteen Mile Creek valley!) all the way back to the car and Tiger Summit Trailhead.  The last few miles coming down the old forest road were pretty steep (from East Tiger turnoff down) and fun.  Michael and I commented on how we looked forward to running UP this sucker instead of down it.  Once we got back to the Highway 18 parking lot, we decided to cool-down are downhill-tired legs with a little 5 min. out-and-back on the road we started our run on.

Michael's great mobile photo on top of West Tiger 1 - looking west toward SeaTac

Overall, this run was awesome considering we survived our off roading experience (not advised!) AND made it to our destination peak in one go.  My take: running south of the West Tiger peaks are great because there are loads of trails and old mountain roads without the crowds and hubbub of the other side of Tiger. 

For Directions to trailhead from Seattle:  http://g.co/maps/7d755

Run Stats:  Total Distance: ~16 miles   Time: 2:14:31 (running)   Elevation Gain: ~ 2,200 ft.    Pace: 8:25