Climbing the Nook Trail

Lush moss adorned the trees.

Yesterday morning, Joan Tito, my hiking companion, and I took what was a new approach for me to Tiger Mountain. We ascended the Nook Trail on a day that the forest was verdent with dampness and an abundance of moss. It was like a rain forest. We climbed to the merger of the Talus Rocks Trail and Tiger 3, then descended to the trailhead and returned to the car.

I wore my 20-pound weight vest and a 14-pound pack on the way up. She wore the vest on the way down, to get the experience. The Nook trail portion of the hike was listed as one mile; the distance to the linkup with Tiger 3 another 0.4 miles; and the descent about 0.8 miles for a total distance of 2.2 miles. The highest point reached was about 1,060 feet, so I'm claiming 500 feet of elevation gain.

So, statistics for the day:
Distance: 2.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 500 feet
Weight carried: 34 pounds
Distance year to date: 39.2 miles
Elevation gain year to date: 10,165 feet.

The descent from the merger of Talus Rocks Trail and Tiger 3 to the trailhead

The talus rocks are giant boulders that create caves; the fence appears to discourage falls.

A fall can land you in a pit of a cave, like this one, which represented a 10-15 foot descent.