We had a great winter hike today at Cougar Mtn Regional Park.  We met at the Sky Country TH at 9:30.  It was 32 degrees with mostly sunny skies.  The Porta Potties in the lot had TP.  We made a 5.6 mile loop  on hard packed and frost heaved trail surface. King County Parks and trail crews have done an amazing job clear trails since the bomb cyclone weather event 2 weeks ago.  EVERY trail we hiked was cleared of down trees and major limb debris.  Our route  followed - Old Man’s Tr, L on Cave Hole Tr, R on Coyote Creek, R on Klondike Swamp Trail, L on Lost Beagle down to Harvey Manning Th. We went to check out the Million $ View Pagoda but a thick fog layer hung over Lake Sammamish and blocked the view.  Continuing on we went down the Shangri La Tr, R on Tibbett’s Marsh Tr to the Clay Pit.  The sun was out and we found a pile of rocks to sit down and take a rest break down the old Clay Pit road.  Views were not limited here and all the Tiger Mtn Peaks and their Radio Towers were blazing in the sun.  We took the road up to SW from the clay pit and took a R on the start of the East Fork Trail, that did have a large downed tree jumble to climb through.  After that the trail Mine Shaft Tr around Jerry’s Duck pond to the west was completely clear.  To finish our hike took a R on Fred’s Railroad, L on the By Pass Tr down to Cave Hole and back to Old Man’s Tr back to Sky Country TH.   Despite the sunny skies we only passed a few hikers the entire day.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.

I arrived at the Harvey Manning trailhead around 11am and was one of two cars in the parking lot. It was a perfectly cool spring day for a spontaneous hike. I ended up doing a 6.6 mile loop; I'll show the map below. All trails I hiked on were in great condition, only one had a small alder tree across it that wasn't difficult to cross. Overall, I didn't notice too many invasive plants which brought me hope, but as I neared the top of Wilderness Peak, I started to see some English holly trees growing that would be easy to take out.

If you're expecting a view on this hike/at the top, you'll be disappointed. The best view is at the trailhead, at the viewpoint. However, this trail is a great practice in the life lesson, "it's all about the journey, not the destination." Trilliums, salmon berries, bleeding hearts and more are all blooming. Devil's Club is just starting to leaf out and there is lots of it on this trail. The birds were out singing at the top of their lungs, and I even came across three deer--we said hey before they dashed off the trail. I also loved reading all the historical boards along the trail about mining and logging in the area. 

Very cool hike, and very worth it!

    We completed a 6.5 mile out and back hike from Sky Country TH on Cougar Mtn today.  It was 50 degrees with sunny skies when we started out at 9:15.  Eight others cars were at the TH when we pulled in.  The Porta Potties were clean and stocked with supplies.  Our route followed Old Man’s Tr, Cave Hole, By Pass, Fred’s RR, Shy Bear and Whittaker Wilderness Peak Trails to Peak. All the trails are saturated but well drained with no muddy areas.  Lots of great yellow and orange fall leaves are showing especially on the maple trees.  Mushrooms and fungi seem to be popping up everywhere. After a few photo ops at the Wilderness Peak Memorial Bench we retraced our steps and over to the Clay Pit area on the East Fork trail for lunch in the sun. Trail traffic was super light and we had no real wildlife sightings.  More cars were pulling in we when left the TH lot just after 1:00.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends. 

     Sky Country TH may soon be to go trailhead with Lakemont Blvd closing  (24-7) for 8+ month starting on October 24th with a projected finish date of June 4, 2024. According to the City of Bellevue the closure is due to the emergency construction of a bridge over Coal Creek near the junction for Redtown Trailhead. https://bellevuewa.gov/city-news/lakemont-closure

Main lot was full at 8:15 am, but there were still spots in the horse trailer lot and along the road. Slightly muggy but generally nice conditions in the morning for a trail run. All trails were in pretty good shape. Saw many kinds of wildflowers, an almost completely unfazed deer, and a couple of little black snakes (slithered away too fast for a certain ID). Quite a few folks out; love to see it!

Bird song was in the air and wildflowers lined the trail at Grand Ridge Park today.  We met at the Central Park ball fields trailhead at 8:30.  It was 54 degrees with partially sunny skies.  The Park bathrooms were open and stocked with supplies.  We started on the South Pond trail, took a left on Coal Mine, joined East Fork then SamDog Creek and made a clockwise loop on Flowing Fir trails, for a 6.7 mile out and back hike.  A few neighborhood folks were out running and dog walking when we started out.  After that the trail traffic was really light, we saw 5 solo mtn bikers a couple other runners and dog walkers.  King Country Parks keeps this trail system in top condition.  Two park workers were on the trail today digging out drainage channels.  Wildflowers are in peak bloom especially bleeding hearts.  Trillium are starting to fade, but miner’s lettuce, vanilla leaf, Oregon grape, elderberry, salmon berry, yellow violets, water leaf  and fringe cups were looking great. Sunlight filtered through the tree canopy and everywhere you looked it was luscious green. We stopped on the way back by the babbling stream with rock boulders for a short rest / snack break and arrived back at our vehicles just before 12:30.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.