This was a hike with the Issaquah Alps Club and lead by Fred Z., the hike started and ended at the Bear Ridge Trail head on SR 900. There is parking room for about 3 vehicles at the trail head but a safer bet might be finding some space in the new Talus development or on the highway shoulder. The trails were all in good shape but the West Tibbets Creek Trail (E-10 on the King County Parks map)could use some brushing. The hike proceeded up Bear Ridge to West Tibbets, to Tibbets Marsh, Lost Beagle, through a fence to the Million Dollar View picnic area for lunch. Then down the Shangri La trail to Klondike Swamp, over Cougar Pass to Tibbets Marsh, to the Protector Trail, then to Shangri La and down Bear Ridge. Hiking time was about 3.5 hours with a lunch break, distance roughly 7.5 miles. Views from the Million Dollar lunch spot were ok but are being lost as the forest regrows.

A short walk through spring forest to a pond (duck pond) on muddy trails was this day's outing. The raim had moved on by the time I got to the trail head at AA Peak, as I began walking I met the Issaquah Alps hike lead by Fred on their way to AA Peak. After saying hello to Fred and Richard I continued on my way down the Tibbets Marsh trail. This trail has a cool bridge over ""Tibbets Creek"", an old log that appears as if by magic on the trail. Over the creek you start slowly up to the Clay Pit road and then on the Mine Shaft Trail to ""Duck Pond"". This is a senic pond which my photo does not do justice. Past the pond I took the East Fork Trail back to Fred's Railroad and then to the Klondike Swamp Trail and back to the car via the Lost Beagle Trail. I met Fred's group again on the Klondike Swamp Trail as they headed to Red Town. The trails are muddy from recent rains. Some brushing is evident on several of the trails which kept my pants dry. A nice 2 hour walk with birds singing and the sun coming through the trees.

After enduring months of seeing Coal Creek Falls as nothing more than a trickle, it's invigorating to see it at a more robust flow than at our last visit, in September. Weather: chilly, around 40 and falling, persistent mist, turning to steady light drizzle. We began about 9 a.m. from the Anti-Aircraft Peak Trailhead; three hikers were coming out as we went in, but very few others were encountered, thanks to the threat of snowstorm looming later in the day. Entry trails were in fairly good shape, for December. Further along AA Ridge it got a bit boggy and slippery, but easily passable, and my feet stayed dry in tennis shoes. Most deciduous foliage is gone, of course, so Cougar's heavily-canopied trails are actually brighter now, in spite of gloomy skies. Glistening Oregon grape and sword fern were the dominant greenery; the ""grape"" is crowding the narrower trails quite a bit in many places. Many fungi present, but I'm embarrassingly ignorant of mycology. The only wildlife we observed were the usual juncos, chickadees and wrens; not even towhees or squirrels. We were very pleased to see good flow in the East Fork of Coal Creek where the Clay Pit bypass crosses. Cave Hole Road is not in very good condition: in most places only one rut was passable, the other either too eroded or too muddy. Several clumps of comfrey were evident on the Falls trail -- I hadn't noticed them there before....is that just because of less foliage now, or is this a climate-related change? Coal Creek Falls were very nice, probably about 10 to 20 percent of maximum flow. These falls are a wonderful place to sit, rest, meditate; and now while the flow is only moderate it's even a good place for conversation. We returned the same way we entered. I was pleased to make it all the way up the Cave Hole Road grade non-stop; a tough walking hill. We got back to our vehicle just as the weather took a turn for the worse. For a moderately-long but quiet, easy hike to a nice destination, this is hard to beat, any time of year.

The trails on Cougar Mt. continue to be amazingly dry and mud free. The trails near the former “swamp” or lake are normally muddy once the rainy season starts, but on Sunday they remained very dry and easy to walk. There is some mud on the Shangri La trail but nothing compared to the normal amount during winter. The fall colors are in full swing and trees in the park are dropping their leaves. There were lots of folks on all of the trails so not much solitude. The trip up the Klondike Swamp trail was a real treat with sunlight beaming on an arch of Burch trees with gold and green leaves. This trip takes about 2 hours and is 5 to 6 miles in length. The top of Wilderness Peak has a summit register and some trails that may lead down to the Wilderness Cliffs trail. I went down one of these for a short time and it did not look like a game trail. This may be worth exploration the next time I am on this trail.

What a lot of trails for such a short hike! I covered about 5 miles of wet soggy trail in Cougar Mt. park on Friday. The hike was in solitude but the trails are very wet with standing water and mud-holes. The purpose was to see Coal Creek Falls in winter and the hike was worth it. Heading from the AA Peak Trail head I walked down Lost Beagle to the Klondike Swamp, then via a connector to Cave Hole, down to the Coal Creek Falls trail. Most of these trails are in good if slightly muddy condition. The falls trail is in excellent shape and you can hear the water roaring over the falls as you get near. After a snack and some photos, I continued on to the Quarry Trail, then back via Fred's Railroad, AA Ridge to my car. I saw only one other person on the hike and no wildlife. The rain was constant and I was soaked but happy on getting back to my car. Hike took about 3 hours.