The Tiger Mountain Trail 40th Anniversary
Forty years ago, on October 13, 1979, the Grand Opening hike of the newly-built Tiger Mountain Trail was conducted. About 30 people participated in the hike, undaunted by the rain and fog. The Issaquah Press covered the event under the headline “Fog Doesn’t Spoil Trail’s Debut.” The coverage included the following photo of the group on the trail:
Harvey was there, too, looking a bit soggy.
The trail was first envisioned in May, 1972, by a committee of The Mountaineers headed by Ruth Ittner. Bill Longwell was also a member of that committee. (Remember that at that time, the IATC did not exist.) There were many obstacles with the land owners to be worked out during those early years, but they were resolved and construction commenced in 1977. Bill Longwell enlisted help of his students at Renton’s Hazen High School, and the trail began to take shape. Bill estimated the effort to construct the initial 10.3 mile trail at 1355 construction hours and 288 worker days.
Work continued on improving and extending the trail over the following decade, finally reaching a length of 16 miles. The ragtag band of club members and Hazen HS students who pushed forward on this labor-of-love came to be known as “Longwell’s Army.” Here pictured is Bill Longwell affixing mile markers along the trail in 1990:
In that era, stylized “TMT” signs were also installed. Not many are left. Keep an eagle-eye out!
Photos by Larry Hanson and the Issaquah Press.