[rainrunner]

Hey! Don't go dissing my backyard hiking grounds! Yeah, you are right...I would never claim that Mount Si, Little Si, or Tiger Mountain even comes close to comparing to hiking around Rainier, in the North Cascades, or the Olympics. But hey...it's close and there are enough trails to give you a good 5-6 hours of cardio (to keep you in shape for the bigger hikes/backpacking trips!) Plus, it keeps me occupied and helps maintain my sanity during the winter months! Oh, and coming from someone from Illinois...any hiking is better than hiking through the cornfields or on the bluffs of the Mississippi! Back home in Illinois...I would drive 2 1/2 hours to hike the equivalent of Little Si. Guess you all know why I moved out here!

[sarbar]

No Kidding Being a WA native, I am pampered to the big ones I cannot imagine living in a flat land!

[Dante]

I loved growing up at the foot of Tiger Mountain. In the 70s and 80s I ran all over that mountain literally and figuratively. We'd hike, swim, build forts and shoot guns (kids were trusted to do so responsibly in the olden days whether we actually did or not. For the record, we all survived and never hurt ourselves or anyone else). There were hardly any people up there then. I spent one weekend on baldy and we had the peak to ourselves except the hour or two Harvey Manning and a buddy spent up there. He traded us a Ranier Ale for one of our Schmidt Pounders, thereby contributing to (or at least not discouragint) the delinquency of minors I don't do the Issy Alps anymore. Too crowded and too many people dressed in funny looking "hiking clothes"

[marta]

Has anyone seen the commercial for Issaquah Highlands planned community on TV? It has shots of a trail runner running from his house right onto the trails on Tiger. Supposedly the community has links from the neighborhood parks to the trails on Tiger. And it is a big reason why that Sunset Interchange is being built. I suspect it is going to get a whole lot more crowded on the Tiger trails. Personally, I like the trails at Tiger and Cougar in the winter when I'm not up for a longer drive. - marta

[JayMar]

Interesting topic. I picked up 'Footsores' a book on local walks and hikes in the Puget Sound Area and the author spoke something about a 2 hour rule. If I can paraphrase (plagerize) correctly - A hike near where you live that takes maybe an hour in a car to get to probably rates higher on the enjoyment scale than a different hike that may take 2 hours in a car to get to. There is some sort of proportional relationship to travel and the quality of the hike in total. So in this case, driving 25 minutes to Cougar for a 3 hour jaunt would be superior to a 2 hour drive to Darrington for a 5 hour hike - or that the hike in Darrington would have to be high in the 'great' category. I personally prefer to hike in more secluded locales -especially on weekends. But on a 'work' nite - nothing beats a local jaunt.

[dude]

hmmmm.....

[polarbear-]

...hmmm...to me many of the close by hikes aren't as good. Why? *they are crowded *endless switchbacks to an ok viewpoint *few streams or creeks *traffic noise from the mighty freeway below On the other , they are close by so that offsets the above negativities a little. Here is a rating scale: 1. Busy street (Madison Avenue) 2. Quieter street (Lake WA BLVD) 3. City Park (Gasworks) 4. Quieter city park (seward) 5. Suburban Alps (Tiger, Si) 6. I-90 peak (Granite) 7. I-90 Lake (Annette) 8. Outback Peak 9. Outback Lake etc. etc. etc.

[Malachai Constant]

It's kind of like the song lyric "If you can't be with the one you love. love the one your with". Few people would say Tiger mountain is better than Hidden Lake Peak, but I can get there in 5 min. instead of Three hours. If you are looking for something after work or in winter there is really no contest. Some such as Mailbox or Tennerif provide as good or better a workout than anything in the cascades outside the volcanos.