Just wanted to get out in nature and be in the mountains and see some fall foliage.  This trail did not disappoint. It was a gentle hike, saw some beautiful colors, the trail was in great condition, and it wasn't raining. We started at Harvey Manning Trailhead, which is tucked way off the main road (and I would choose a different trailhead for future nature walks around here). We explored the Million dollar view and then started our trail.  Shangri La-Protector-cougar pass-Klondike swamp-coyote creek-shangri la.  

Did this as a 4.8 mile loop starting at Harvey Manning trailhead. Nice, easy early season hike with very few people at 10am on a sunnyish day.

I joined a WTA work party at Cougar Mountain today. We started at the Harvey Manning Trailhead. I arrived around 8 AM and parking was plentiful. There are privies available and they are in decent shape. Our work for the day mostly involved improving drainage on the Lost Beagle Trail, with one group working on a problematic muddy area and the other securing a culvert with rocks and gravel. When the work party ended around 2 PM, the parking area was full. 

After the work party, I took advantage of the good weather and decided to hike a bit. From the parking area, my hike was a counterclockwise loop involving all of the trails named in the title of this trip report. All of the trails are in good shape and are mostly dry with no blocking obstacles of note. This route has a good variety of up and down with flat stretches of trail. It's worth noting that the Harvey Manning Trailhead is the highest trailhead on Cougar Mountain so pretty much everything is down from the trailhead and of course, everything is up on your return trip. My loop hike took about 2 hours and Strava noted the distance to be about 4.5 miles. I also noticed that the bugs were out in force today and were generally abundant whenever we stopped moving during the work party but were not bad while I was hiking. So I guess the key is to keep moving! 

All the trails are well signed but it's always good to have a map handy. There is a large map at the trailhead you can take a picture of to reference during your hike or you can download one at this link: 

https://aqua.kingcounty.gov/gis/web/VMC/recreation/BCT_CougarMtn_brochure.pdf

グラップリングフックガールのクランベリーちゃんです！今日は「Klondike Swamp」を探検しましょう！

「166th Way SE」の道路はゲートが閉まっています。車で登山口まで行くことはできません。ゲート前の路上に駐車して、登山口まで歩いて行く必要があります。道路は氷で覆われていて、とても滑りやすいです。登山口まで歩くのは大変です。

あたしは「SKY COUNTRY TRAILHEAD」に到着し、本格的にハイキングを始めました。雪と氷がトレイルを覆っています。とても滑りやすいです。靴にスパイクはありませんが、トレイルに沿って歩くことができました。ただし、傾斜地では滑って転びやすいので注意してください。

登山口の近くで誰かが銃を発砲していました。銃声が複数回聞こえました。これは非常に危険だと思います。道路が閉鎖されていても、トレイルには人がいますので、発砲を始めるのは非常に危険です。ハイキングコースで銃を撃たないでください！

あたしの旅路は「Klondike Swamp」の周りを通りました。旅の途中で、倒木が 3 本ありました。最初の倒木はグラップリング フックを使ってトレイルから引き抜きました。2 本目の倒木は、スイス アーミー ナイフ ウッド ソーを使って切り、撤去できるようにしました。切り倒すのに 1 時間かかりましたが、撤去できました。3 本目の倒木は、あまりにも疲れていて切り倒すことができませんでした。申し訳ありません！でも、あたしは 1 人の女性なので、一人ですべての木を片付けることはできません！3 本目の倒木はそのままにしなければなりませんでした。

トレイルで他の人に出会うこともあり、犬を連れた人もいました。あたしが見た犬はどれも攻撃的ではありませんでしたが、多くの人が犬にリードをつけていないので注意してください。

沼は雪に覆われていて、水はあまり見かけませんでした。それでも訪れる価値のある美しい場所でした。雪は本当に好きです！雪に覆われた森ほど美しいものはありません！ 炭鉱地帯も見ました！ 標識に危険と書いてあったので、道から外れないようにしました。 炭鉱は歴史上重要な部分であり、炭鉱の遺跡を見るのはとても興味深いです！

Short English Version:
-166th Way SE is Closed. Cannot drive to Sky Country Trailhead.
-Snow and ice on road and trail. Slippery. Please be carerful.
-Someone shooting gun near trailhead. Dangerous. Please do not shoot gun near trails.
-3 trees fell down. 2 of trees I was able to remove with my grappling hook. 3rd tree could not, I was exhausted. Sorry! I did my best, me just 1 girl and could not do all 3 alone.
-Snowy forest beautiful! Please enjoy coal mine history and Klondike Swamp!

Family member and I decided to attempt to do some trail running today. We knew we had to be very careful, assess trail and tree conditions, and constantly be prepared for something falling after the recent storms. Kind of hard to bring myself to get out with all the craziness with power outages, but I think the only reason I’ve been able to persevere is my bucket gets filled regularly with my outdoor hikes. We decided to head to the Harvey Manning trailhead for a run from there and ended up doing quite a mishmash of various trails. Not sure I can call what we did as a run with all the obstacles we ended up having to go over, through, and under. Our route went in a counter-clockwise direction that had us ending on Shangri La Trail. The worst sections we encountered were on Precipice Top, Red Cedars, and Surprise Creek trails. The only creaking/moaning tree we heard was on the Precipice Top trail and the only large blowdown we had to go under was on the Red Cedars trail. On our way out on Shangri La not far from the trailhead parking we saw this large blowdown that someone’s chainsaw lost a battle to. My thanks goes to anyone and everyone who helps clear trails. On W. Tibbetts Creek Trail I attempted to pull a large hanging branch over the trail with eye level poking bits off of another tree and could only get it to fall on the side of the trail, making me wonder if that was really any better. I hope this trip report is helpful for anyone who services these trails. I also hope WTA puts together a new list of upcoming work parties to help clear trails from cyclone damage and gets the word out as I’d love to come help when and where I can!