Trip Date: April 20, 2020

CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN HIKE SERIES

Issaquah Alps Grand Traverse:  Hobart to Newcastle

Hobart Gap
Middle Tiger Mountain (2607′)
Custer’s Bridge / Fifteenmile Creek
Fifteenmile Gap
Issaquah–Hobart Road (Front Street) crossing
Squak Mountain: true summit aka Central Squak Peak (2024′)
Renton–Issaquah Road (Highway 900) crossing
Cougar Mountain: true summit aka Wilderness Peak (1602′)
Shy Bear Pass
Red Town
Newcastle Commons

Trip Report Summary

Region: Central Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Issaquah Alps

Areas: Tiger Mountain State Forest & Squak/Tiger Corridor & Squak Mountain State Park & Cougar/Squak Corridor & Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park & Coal Creek Natural Area

Starting Point: South Tiger Mountain Trailhead on Tiger Mountain Road SE near Hobart (Elev. 550 feet)

Way Points: Hobart Gap & Powerline Trail crossing & West Side Road #1000 crossing & Zeig’s Zag (trail hike);  Holder Creek & Karl’s Gap (off-trail hike & bushwhack);  Millan’s Crossing & Middle Tiger Mountain summit & Millan’s Crossing & Hal’s Cove & Fifteenmile Creek / Custer’s Bridge & Larry’s Crossing & Fifteenmile Gap & Poo Poo Point Trail junction & North Fork Gleason Creek crossing & Bonneville Powerline crossing & High School Trail junction & Issaquah–Hobart Road / Front Street crossing (trail hike);  Sycamore Drive intersection & Sycamore Access Trailhead (road walk);  East Ridge Trail junction & Crystal Creek crossing & Summit Trail junction & Central Squak Peak summit & Central Peak Trail junction & West Access Trail junction & Renton–Issaquah Road / Highway 900 crossing & Squak Mountain Connector Trail junction & Gombu Wilderness Trail junction & Wilderness Peak summit & Whittaker Wilderness Peak junction & Shy Bear Trail junction & Shy Bear Pass & Quarry Trail junction & Indian Trail junction & Red Town Trail junction & Red Town Trailhead & Lakemont Boulevard crossing & Upper Coal Creek Trailhead & Coal Creek & Newcastle Commons (trail hike);  Coal Creek Parkway crossing & Olympic Pipeline Trail junction (road walk)

High Point: Middle Tiger Mountain summit (Elev. 2607 feet)

Low Point: Issaquah–Hobart Road / Front Street crossing (Elev. 150 feet)

Ending Point: Home in Newport Hills (Elev. 400 feet)

Summit: Middle Tiger Mountain (ascent & descent via Middle Tiger Trail)

Summit: Central Squak Peak (ascent via Summit Trail; descent via Central Peak Trail)

Summit: Wilderness Peak (ascent via Gombu Trail; descent via Whittaker Trail)

Approximate Stats: 26 miles traveled (24 miles on trails + 2 miles on paved roads); 6100 feet gained; 6250 feet lost; 17.5 hours elapsed.

Route Overview

In our quest to stay active during the coronavirus lockdown, Eileen and I completed a rough re-enactment of the locally famous Issaquah Alps Grand Traverse.  This one-day, marathon-length, trail-and-road traverse traditionally goes over three of the four principal landforms within the Issaquah Alps:  Cougar Mountain, Squak Mountain, and Tiger Mountain (the fourth landform, Rattlesnake Mountain, is typically excluded).  Neither of us is a marathon runner or even a long-distance hiker, but a neighborhood marathon hike seemed like a suitable undertaking when mountain options were so limited.

The Grand Traverse was pioneered by the Issaquah Alps Trails Club (IATC) as a culmination of their vision for a 20- to 25-mile “super hike” from Lake Washington to Preston over the Issaquah Alps.  According to old IATC Alpiner newsletters, the conceptual “super hike” eventually morphed into the 1988 Grand Traverse, covering 28 miles and 5500 vertical feet of gain from Newcastle Beach Park to High Point Road.  They had 40 hikers start the trek; 24 hikers finished, thereby earning commemorative badges.  The traverse was repeated in 1989, with 59 hikers completing a slightly different 30-mile course.  After that, the Grand Traverse was replaced by the Mountains-to-Sound March and never officially held again.

Despite being held only twice—or perhaps because it was such a short-lived event—the Issaquah Alps Grand Traverse has earned a legendary status among the Eastside hiking community.  Not doing the traverse with IATC has been a regret of mine for the last 30 years; although I was ready to go in 1990, the event wasn’t.  Now, I had a chance to make amends.

Considering that the official Grand Traverse did not follow a singular route, combined with the possibility that those original routes might not even be feasible nowadays, Eileen and I felt justified in taking much logistical license to chart our own course.  We also wanted to comply with the current COVID-19 restrictions…within reason.  Ultimately, our criteria were simple:

• Either begin or end at our front door;
• Hike a marathon distance of at least 26 miles;
• Gain a summit on each of the three principal mountains;
• Minimize the amount of paved-road walking; and
• Avoid other people and area closures to the greatest practical extent.

Our result was a route starting at the South Tiger Mountain Trailhead near Hobart and ending at our home in Newcastle.  Along the way, we would tuck in the summit of Middle Tiger Mountain, the true summit of Squak Mountain (Central Peak), and the true summit of Cougar Mountain (Wilderness Peak).  By doing the traverse on a weekday and staying mostly on lightly traveled trails, we felt that we could avoid large groups of hikers.  Overall, our plan worked very well.

Full Trip Report

Eileen and I arrived at the South Tiger Mountain Trailhead shortly before 7:00am on a chilly Monday morning.  We tightened shoelaces, adjusted daypacks, donned gloves, and headed up the trail.  This southern portion of the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) starts with a climb to Hobart Gap, then makes a gentle traverse toward West Side Road #1000.

Active logging operations just beyond West Side Road necessitated a detour around the eastern flank of Point 2030.  After a bit of cross-country hiking and bushwhacking alongside Holder Creek, we rejoined the TMT near Karl’s Gap.

We soon arrived at Millan’s Crossing and made a sidetrip up to the summit of Middle Tiger Mountain (3.3 hours + 2100 feet from starting TH).  This represented the high point of our entire traverse and met our goal of achieving a Tiger Mountain summit, but now that the trees have grown tall here, there are no views to be had.

We returned to Millan’s Crossing and continued northward on the TMT.  Our next landmark was Custer’s Bridge, a dilapidated structure across Fifteenmile Creek.  This footbridge was built by the DNR in 1985 and appears to be nearing its last stand.

Between Millan’s Crossing and Fifteenmile Gap, the TMT contours steep hillsides that have eroded the trailbed in many locations.  Nonetheless, traveling through these deep green woods is quite pleasant.

Eileen and I stopped for lunch at Fifteenmile Gap, which marked our planned jump-off point from the TMT.  At this key junction, we turned northwestward on One View Trail and headed downhill to Issaquah.

Our descent route successively took us down One View Trail, Poo Poo Point Trail, and High School Trail.  We’d seen only three people in the first 10 miles of our trek, but midweek hikers were far more prevalent on these popular (and officially open) lower trails.

At 3:40pm (8.6 hours + 13.7 miles from starting TH), we reached Issaquah–Hobart Road (Front Street) and stopped for a boots-off break on a park bench.  This marked both the mid-point and low point of our traverse as well as our only good bail-out opportunity.  There was no talk of bailing out here, but Eileen later confessed to looking wistfully at the Uber app on her cell phone.

The second half of our Grand Traverse began with a road walk over to Sycamore Drive and up to the Sycamore Access Trailhead.  From there, a network of delightfully smooth trails whisked us across Crystal Creek and up the east ridge of Squak Mountain.  Our overall pace on Tiger Mountain had been disappointingly slow, but we were able to increase speed on the excellent trails here.

After a final bit of steep trail and gravel road, we arrived at the summit of Central Squak Peak (10.7 hours + 4800 feet from starting TH).  The top of the peak has been leveled off and is occupied by several radio antennas and support buildings.  Because territorial views are non-existent, this is a summit that only a radio technician would appreciate.  Nonetheless, our sore feet demanded another boots-off break here.

From the summit, we proceeded northwestward down Central Peak Trail, which follows a series of old roads on the former Bullitt property.  I took particular interest in the unusually robust steel-and-concrete stile barrier at the top of the trail.  Most trail stiles are built to keep out bikes and horses, but this one would keep out a small military tank!

We finished our descent of Squak Mountain on West Access Trail and then crossed Renton–Issaquah Road (Highway 900) at 7:40pm (12.6 hours + 18.7 miles from starting TH).  This roughly marked the two-thirds point of our traverse.  Only one more mountain to climb!

In waning twilight, we hurried upward on Squak Mountain Connector Trail and Gombu Wilderness Cliffs Trail, trying to make as much progress as possible before resorting to headlamp travel.  Total darkness caught us below the summit of Wilderness Peak, so we finished our ascent with headlamps, arriving on top at 9:10pm (14.1 hours + 6000 feet from starting TH).  The rustic “summit sofa” provided a nice spot for our final rest stop.

The next few hours constituted a sleepy blur of trails and junctions, as we worked our way down the western flanks of Cougar Mountain to Red Town Trailhead and then down Coal Creek Trail to Newcastle Commons.  We limped across Coal Creek Parkway and hobbled an additional ½ mile to our front door, arriving just after 12:30am (17.5 hours + 26 miles + 6100 feet from starting TH).  Through a multitude of aches and pains, it had been a grand traverse indeed, but we will certainly never need to do that again!

Route Maps & Profile

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Photo Gallery

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