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Trip Report    

Day Hike - West Tiger No. 3 Trail

A rewarding and satisfying trip for all participants. Light breeze, no rain, and 15 bird species. Congratulations to Tyler who remained unfazed even when his mentor was delayed!

Courtenay Schurman Courtenay Schurman
April 10, 2026
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • A Discover Pass is needed to park in the parking lot, and even for a Friday morning (Search and Rescue had some sort of a Friday morning fair?) the lot was about 2/3 full at 8 and closer to 3/4 full when the two of us (as co-leader/mentored leader) finished our debriefing around 12:30.

    There's a reason why WT3 is so popular: wide trails for conversation, no blow downs across the trail, a nice steady grade (the Alltrails route is basically a pyramid) and it bypasses the ball bearings of Cable Line. There is one "of note" spot in the bottom mile where a culvert is being undercut by stream erosion and a hole is opening up (photo below). Something to watch out for.

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6 of us from the Mountaineers enjoyed a dry Friday morning hike to West Tiger 3 along the standard route. I hadn't done this specific trail in several years, as I generally do Section or in more recent weeks, Poo Poo / High School or Tiger 1 loop.

We enjoyed 15 bird species including a ton of Pacific wrens, and trillium and yellow violets are starting to bloom.

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At the summit, we had just a light breeze and could see the entire skyway including Mt. Rainier and the Olympics. Nice steady pace (2.2 mph RT) for 5.7 miles and 2000' gain. We had some new-to-the-Mountaineers members learning the ropes about trip logistics.

This was a mentored lead and a hearty "Welcome" to Tyler based on his solid lead. I look forward to more outings with all involved.