Poo Poo Point - Dec. 15, 2011

After some races (xc club nats), injuries and Thanksgiving, we were finally able to do our third "peak a week" on December 15.  It was another northwest classic:  Poo Poo point!  I don't know why I just put an exclamation point, but something about saying Poo Poo makes me want to yell it.  Poo Poo!  Poo Poo!! Poo Poo!!!  Ok, that's enough.

Like Mt. Si, there are two reasons why this climb on Tiger Mountain is one of the area's most popular hikes:  the location (closeness to the city) and the views (of the city).  Maybe that's why on this morning we added two guest stars to our regular lineup, Peter Ellis (our newly appointed Issaquah Alps guru) and Dan Weldon (the same who gave me the "peak a week" idea and Brooks Guru).

Three-way junction at highest point of our run

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We started our run on another cool, beautiful morning from chez Peter and headed up into Tiger from the north-west corner of the mountain.  Taking the Tradition Plateau entrance from town, we headed up toward the Puget Power Trail, ran on that for a few minutes before taking a right toward the Wetlands Trail and around the itty-bitty lake.  We popped out onto the big Gasline Trail and headed south until we hit Poo Poo Point Trail.  This is when the trail started getting fun, i.e. we started going up hill.  This was the longest section of trail on the run and as we went up it got increasingly steeper and narrower (from double wide to single-track) until switchbacks are needed toward the top.  I was a little surprised to find that the top of the run at 2,000 feet was not our destination.  From this three-way intersection (picture, left), it's a slight downhill 0.5 miles (and a 150 ft. elevation drop) to Poo Poo Point and the views that come with it. 

Turns out, Poo Poo Point is quiet the destination/launching point for hang gliders and paragliders.  Because of this, there is a small parking lot, a few small out buildings and even a launching pad made of astroturf!  We enjoyed the views of Squak Mountian across, the Issaquah Valley below, and Lake Sammamish beyond.  After a few minutes we headed back down Tiger mountain via the Chirico Trial, enjoying conversation between the five of us (so much so that when we ran on the Chirico Trail a few months later, we didn't even recognize it..."Have we ever been on this trail before?"  The worst part of the run was heading back into town for a few miles on the Issaquah-Hobart Rd, but at least it turned the run into a loop instead of an out-'n-back, which is always a bonus.

For more info and directions, check out: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/poo-poo-point

Run Stats:  Total Distance: 10.7 miles   Time: 1:27:22   Elevation Gain: 1,650   Pace: 8:09/mile

Poo Poo Point looking north.  Issaquah and Lake Sammamish beyond.