We parked at the state park lot and hiked up the May Valley trail, it is in good condition and very lush. Once past the Bullitt fireplace approaching Central peak there is a mess of blow downs. Some blue flagging but we lost the trail and bushwhacked and scrambled until we found it again just shy of the peak. Seems odd it’s not been cleared since the access road is right there to drive saws up there for trail work … but nonetheless it wasn’t too bad. Took the access road down, trail running until 1.5 miles from the bottom we ran into a small bear, it was in the middle of the road and started lumbering towards us. thankfully we could just detour onto the May Valley trail. We made a lot of noise and hustled down once we were convinced it did not follow us and had an uneventful finish with headlamps on. We were done 30 minutes prior to sunset but it gets dark quickly so be sure to pack a headlamp for evening hikes! No bear photo since once it was walking towards us we got moving 🐻

Headed up east Squak from Sunrise Pl SE. It was blustery, but at least not raining. The first mile up to about the Sycamore Access Trail was sheltered from the wind and was clear of obstacles. Around 1.4 miles, we were in the path of the wind again and could hear trees creaking as they leaned on one another. Then up the switchbacks where there were a dozen or so trees, root balls, and holes in the ground. We were able to get around or over without making contact with anything. Clearing work started around this point also. Despite all the sawing and reestablishing of the trail, there was still much left to be done. Around 2.10 miles was where we had to start climbing over and around trees and route-find. There are some very large trees down. Dozens have been cut, but twice as many are left above this point. The trail was easy to lose, but knowing the general direction, we were able to find it and continue up. It was slow going with a lot of climbing over, balance beam walking, and scooting under. I snagged my pack more than a few times and thankfully had glasses on to protect my eyes from the branches. We stopped just shy of the turn-off to the SE peak. We figured the trail wouldn't get any better until, possibly, the Summit Trail.

Heading back down seemed easier to stay true to the trail and definitely less effort.

Having to run some errands in Issaquah WA later this WED 21aug2024 morning, i "squeezed" for an early morning walk "there" ..

~06:00 i was the 3rd to arrive at the East Sunset Way Trailhead parking. ~06:15, nice cool 50s_F, i went OUT and did the < Distance ~5 mi, Total Time 2:15 > CW-Loop (which includes on "road connectors") :

Parking > Wetlands Trail > Adventure Trail > High School Trail > Squak Mountain Access Trail > Parking

On-the-trails, only saw a total of 3x Trail-runners, and 1x Day-hiker.

The woods were beautiful and quiet. And "downtown" Issaquah was lovely clean - light "office-traffic".

Cheers!

Today we wanted to be out of the sun and moreover, in the trees while also getting some elevation. We decided to hit up Squak from the east side, which was a new spot for us. I saw there were a couple access points to head up the the East Side Trail via the Access Trail. We parked on Sunrise Pl with one other car. Overall, we got in 8.25 miles and 2550 feet elevation and 95% shaded. Not bad for an oldie, but goodie trail network.

The 2.2 mile climb to East Side felt like work, but we realized how much so on the run down. There were a lot more switchbacks than we remembered. Saw 6 runners on that segment and a handful of hikers the rest of the day.

All of Connector and East Side Trail, halfway to Phil's Creek Trail has been weed whacked. And though the trail is only 18 inches wide, the 3 feet of no encroachment is nice. Grading, clearing, and drainage work has been done on the latter to about that same point. We said hi to a gentleman working with his pole saw. After that there was a lot of overgrowth for about 0.4 miles, including some nettle and salmonberry vines. We kept checking for hitchhikers, but luckily  never found any. Circled around up to the fireplace and grabbed a bite then headed back down, never having missed being directly the sun (and no dust.)

Cougar spotted this morning at 6 AM at the Mountainside Drive trailhead.