The Secret Trail Built Just to Jump Off a Mountain

A freak late March snowstorm turned a standard conditioning hike in the Issaquah Alps into a grueling, slippery ascent. Following up on the sketchy, snow-caked drive to the trailhead, we are heading straight into the timber on West Tiger Mountain. The objective is Poo Poo Point via the Chirico Trail, a notoriously steep route that gains almost 1,800 vertical feet in under two miles. It provides the exact kind of gritty, high-angle incline I need to build raw cardiovascular endurance for my upcoming Army Combat Fitness Test. The environment completely shifts as the elevation ticks up, starting with the classic, muddy green terrain of the Pacific Northwest before crossing the snow line into a completely frozen landscape. After a brutal stair-stepper climb, the tree line breaks at the South Launch Pad just in time to catch paragliders launching directly off the mountain. After taking in the sweeping valley views from the North Launch Pad, the real fun begins: navigating a sketchy, knee-crushing descent down icy stone steps that required a few tactical slides. Thanks for watching, and make sure to join us on our next adventure! SOCIAL: TWITTER: https://twitter.com/adventurewithbg INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/adventureswithbg FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/adventureswithbg BLOG: http://adventureswithbg.com Music Credits: Serenity by Lucjo https://soundcloud.com/lucjomusic Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/lucjo/serenity Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/g6kXr8QPiVs #poopoopoint #chiricotrail #issaquahalps #washingtonhiking #springsnow #pnwhiking #trailconditioning