Tiger 3 and Twin Falls

Clear, blue sky at the beginning of the Tiger 3 trail

Today's hike was unconventional. I had broken my Yaktrax, so I wore my mountain boots, but they weren't sufficient to navigate the icy conditions on the Tiger 3 trail. Right after the point where it intersects the Talus Rock Trail, the path became slippery enough to guarantee lots of falls. I turned back after ascending no more than 640 feet (by topo map) over 0.8 miles and headed off to Twin Falls, looking for better hiking luck.

Near the trailhead at Twin Falls

Twin Falls, at Olallie State Park, doesn't have much of an overall elevation gain, but there's a lot of ups and down. Washington Trails Association says it's a 500-foot elevation gain and  2.6 miles round trip, but it's not clear what those figures refer to. I'm going to settle for 400 foot elevation gain and 1.4 miles. Add those figures to my Tiger 3 effort and I'm claiming 1,000-feet of elevation gain and 3 miles covered. Pretty simple stuff, but I was still tired at times, which I found strange. Maybe too little sleep.

There were some slick spots near steep banks, but nothing too scary.

The crest of the lower falls, just before the bridge over the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River

Upper falls, seen from bridge

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 3 miles
Elevation gain:  1,000 feet. 
Location: Twin Falls, Tiger 3
Conditions: Cool, clear skies, slush and packed snow with some ice
Load: 15 pounds

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 41.7 miles

Elevation gain:13,570 feet

The trail back to the trailhead, with the Snoqualmie River to the left