Beauty and the Beast:
A Sojourn to Tiger Mountain State Bark

Tiger Mountain State Park is my back yard, or my front yard, depending which direction I am facing at the moment. I am a traveling electrician, and have made yet another stand near Issaquah, WA. Tiger Mountain rises to the South of Interstate 90, and West of State Route 18. In its heyday, Tiger Mountain was the site of logging trees of enormous size by the Tiger Lumber Co, and still bears the signs of railroad. I couldn't understand why anyone would put a railroad on top of a mountain, as it seemed to me that a railroad would be far easier to build in bottomland. While I was working 2 meter radio I learned the reason for laying track at such elevation was to begin pulling the grade to Snoqualmie Pass to the east. The railroad was used for passenger travel as well as logging. The railroad must have been a significant travel experience in the late 19th Century, and early 20th Century, and was probably similar to traveling on the narrow gauge railroad in Silverton, CO.

In the early 20th Century sawmills dotted the landscape providing good money for families. There was a mill at High Point, a mill at Preston, and a sawmill at Hobart. These mills eventually vanished or burned down. A locomotive engine crashed on Tiger Mountain killing the engineer. The engine lost its brakes with a heavy load on a steep downgrade, and gained enough speed to careen out of control. These engines had vertical pistons, a crankshaft, and spider gears. I have theorized that the engine may have sheared a tooth on the spider gear loosing backpressure on the engine losing control. The engine was recovered and rebuilt.

West Tiger Mountain is made up of 3 significant summits, each of which has a commercial antenna on top in modern times. Indeed, if one is not careful about where one places their QRP antenna, the radio interference will convince them that Tiger Mountain is not the place to operate QRP. I have realized that while I operate below the elevation of commercial antennas, that I can gain low noise levels. If I string my portable dipole antenna on the ridge between the summits, in a saddle, then I gain low noise levels, and fair propagation.

The State Park is home for a number of wild animals. I have seen Black Bear, Lynx, Deer, Coyote, Squirrels, Ord Kangaroo Rat, Red Backed Vole, Mice, Owl, Grouse, Red Tail Hawk, Barred Owl, and Bald Eagles. A curious little snake with bright green stripes on its back is the only reptile in the area. The area is known for its struggle between loggers and environmentalists over the Spotted Owl. Park Rangers at Mt. Rainier National Park concede that the Spotted Owl was probably pushed out of its territory by the very similar Barred Owl. Identification of these species requires an Ornithologist with considerable background in owls. Both owls are the same size, present the same silhouette, and prefer the same environment. The only difference is that the spots on the owls breast are bar shaped rather than spots. This is almost impossible to tell in dim light, as the owl is fairly reclusive, and nocturnal. The prevailing storms come out of the South. Therefore the North side of the mountain is the lee side. There is less wind here, and the trees are denser. Ground cover is sparser, and there is less sunlight. I believe this is where the Owls like to live. Wind shear could play hell with an Owls flight pattern. The trill of the migrating Yellow Warbler tells us that Spring is approaching, and usually coincides with the appearance of the Large White Trillium on the forest floor.

Western Red Cedar is the prevalent conifer, but the forest is mixed with Oaks, Poplars, hardwoods, and other deciduous trees. The Red Cedar grows to enormous size in the right conditions rivaling the Giant Sequoias of Northern California. Thinning is important to allow these trees to grow to this size. Wildfire can selectively thin forests depending on the temperature of the fire, and size of the tree. Rainforest is supported by a lot of rain so bringing raingear is not a bad idea.

QRP Contests are a good time to work low power radio with portable antennas low to the ground. But any time I can usually make fairly good number of contacts. The fairly uninhabited Pacific Ocean lies to the West, and Canada to the North, so we don't make as many QRP contacts as other parts of the country. I don't know where the ideal QRP location is. I find that a number of my QRP contacts are made in late afternoon on 40 meters.

I bring my GPS Receiver along so I could get some practice using it. I take the Longitude and Latitude of the QRP site, and then superimpose that data on several types of maps including a CD version of Topographic maps. It is certainly better and easier to read waypoints that have been recorded, such as camp, or trailhead, or where I last saw my XYL for example. This way, in an emergency the data is ready for instant retrieval.

Day hiking is popular in the State Park, and is small enough to allow access to the most remote regions of the park in several hours. Parking areas can be congested but one only occasionally comes across fellow hikers in more remote areas. Leave no valuables in your automobile.
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Dave Brighton, KD7GIM, is an avid QRPer, hiker and outdoorsman living in Issaquah, WA.