Poo Poo Point

Daughter Anna and I hiked the Poo Poo Point trail on Tiger Mountain yesterday. I would say this is probably the most interesting hike I have done in the Issaquah Alps whose main attraction, in my opinion, is their accessibility. For this hike, the trailhead is close to Issaquah High School, less than half an hour from home.

It was a hot day, with a high in the 90s, so we got an early start and were on the trail by about 8:30AM. Most of the hike is through a forest of Douglas Fir, Western Cedar, and Bigleaf Maple with a few Red Alders here and there. Unlike many other trails in this area, invasive plants were relatively rare with only a few patches of grass along the way disturbing the native ecosystem. There was no breeze at all and, since the trail was a nearly continuous climb, soon we were pretty much drenched in sweat. We consumed fluids conscientiously however, and staved off dehydration. The trail gets quite steep towards the end of the 4 mile (6.4 km) hike with 1750 feet (533 meters) of elevation gain.

After a couple of hours or so, we arrived at our destination which was fully equipped with the necessities including an outhouse and picnic tables.

A few of the amenities at Poo Poo Point

The view from the Point is quite spectacular as you can see in the following pictures.

The view from the top. Lake Sammamish and Issaquah in the foreground, Lake Washington is in the distance at upper left. Our starting point, Issaquah High School, is at the bottom of the picture.

Downtown Bellevue is at the upper left. Squak and Cougar Mountains in the foreground, Lake Sammamish on the right.

The building on the left is Swedish Medical Center - Issaquah where I have spent some time recently (not as a patient).

Mount Baker on the northern horizon

 The main thing Poo Poo Point is known for, at least around here, is paragliding. I have often seen people doing this from the bottom of Tiger Mountain, but this was the first time I have been able to witness a takeoff up close and personal.

Preparing for flight. Squak Mountain in the background.

Running towards the edge of the cliff

Almost flying

Liftoff!

Flying away

My charming hiking companion. I like the color coordinated shirt and water bottle.

 We had a nice time sitting in the shade watching the paragliders with about 30 other people who happened to be there. It was getting steadily hotter as we sat so, after about half an hour, we started back down. Our descent was uneventful (but hot) and about half way down we began fantasizing about post-hike milkshakes. On our return to the car, we looked back to where we had been and felt rather pleased at our accomplishment.

Poo Poo from the parking lot. Two paragliders in sight!

Shockingly, a quick google search revealed no obvious milkshake venues in Issaquah, so we got on the freeway and headed for South Kirkland, driving like the wind. Burgermaster is one of our go to sources when in a milkshake mood after concerts, hikes, or other thirsty activities. On this hot day they did not disappoint - once again, I have tasted the nectar of the gods.