Search trip reports
High Point-13.jpg

Trip Report    

Day Hike - West Tiger Mountain No. 1 (High Point TH/Dwight/Preston up, Ruth's Cove loop down)

4 of us enjoyed a snowy morning on Tiger, heading up Dwight/Preston to West Tiger 1 from High Point trailhead, and descending via Ruth's Cove. Three highlights included microspike malfunctions, amazing wind-snow sculptures at the summit, and a pileated woodpecker excavation site. Beautiful trip.

Courtenay Schurman Courtenay Schurman
February 15, 2025
  • Snow and ice on road

  • Tiger parking lot is a sheet of ice. I used the facilities around 7 a.m. before returning to High Point Trailhead and needed four men in crampons to help push my car in reverse to get out. At High Point I steered my 3 hikers to bare patches so they wouldn't have issues leaving. We wore microspikes and used at least one pole apiece the entire trip. A few inches of snow at the bottom grew to close to a foot at the summit of W. Tiger 1. We did not see many people on Dwight Trail, but we saw plenty of trail runners (some even in shorts!) coming down and one golden retriever.

    High Point-7.jpg

We met at 7:30 and did brief introductions and stretching before heading up the trail at 7:40. 5 hours round trip, 2:51 up and 1:30 down with a 15-minute break at the summit and a few stops for microspike adjustments. Pace varied from 1.7 mph on the steeps up, to 2.3 down.

When one hiker lost the microspikes from one boot we had to retrace our footsteps, adding 10-15 minutes to our total time, but fortunately, we found them, which led to much celebrating. We determined they might have been the incorrect size, but fortunately, everyone had the traction they needed to avoid incidents/falls.

We saw or heard 16 bird species including a pileated woodpecker involved in a massive excavation project. The cavities in the tree pictured were VERY impressive about 40 feet up the tree. Busy bird! High Point-2.jpg

Beautiful stark blues and whites at the summit with stunning wind sculptures. We only had about 15 minutes to grab a snack and a few photos but going down we managed to keep everyone warm. 

High Point-10.jpg