Another weekend in January, another excuse for a hike.

This time, I was again sticking closer to the Issaquah Foothills, in large part because of how much I enjoyed my recent hike on the Chirico Trail. I had seen some beautiful pictures from the end of this particular trail, and I wanted to check it out for myself. The trail’s incredibly uninspiring name: West Tiger #3.

For the most part, conditions were clean, tracks were easy to follow, and it was a nice, brisk, uneventful hike.

The elevation gain, a mere 2,100 ft. The trail, dry and bare, below snow level.

Trail Information
Name	West Tiger #3
Type	out and back
Location	West Tiger Mountain Natural Resource Conservation Area
State	Washington
Miles	2.93
Total_miles	5.87
Check out the trails index for information on more trails!

It was raining that day, but I paid it no mind. It felt great to be outside, to be climbing early that afternoon.

The trail ambles near-ish to a lake, with a side trail that I didn’t check out, and then it climbs and climbs for its elevation gain. Still, it’s not as steep as the nearby “cable line trail” that eventually dovetails with it to the summit. If you can believe it, that trail is just where they buried a cable under a slope, but people do hike it for their pain and gain jollies.

Along the way, I stopped and I noticed a woodpecker, which I watched intently. Through the brush, and in the dark forest of an overcast day, I struggled to produce good photographs. These (unedited) images are about the best I could muster.

As the views became apparent, I felt I had been rewarded for my hard work. I could see mist rising from forested hills, as well as the Seattle skyline.