Began my loop hike from the Sky Country Trailhead by the former US Army Nike missile base. Hiked the Old Man's Trail out to the By Pass Trail. I noticed some new flagging that looked like a future trail relocation. Once up to Fred's RR Trail I turned left, crossed the Clay Pit Road and started up the Klondike Swamp Trail. In about 1/4 mile I turned right on to the Cougar Pass Trail. In one section a small creek is running down the trail with a big mud hole, so looks like it could use some drainage work by King County Parks. At the next junction I turned left on to Harvey Manning Trail (formerly named the Anti-Aircraft Ridge Trail) and headed north. There were a couple of big mud holes on the lower part of this trail. Met three hikers going south. When I got to the Lost Beagle Trail, I went up it the opening in the old chain link fence and hike down to the Harvey Manning Trailhead on Anti-Aircraft Peak. From the parking lot I hiked up to the Million Dollar Viewpoint and had a snack break at the picnic table. No mountain view today with the clouds up north, but a nice view over Lake Sammamish.

After my snack I headed down the Shangri La Trail (on an old roadbed) to get to the Proctector Trail and took it to meet up with the West Tibbetts Creek Trail. Crossed the creek on a nice log bridge and then headed up hill to meet the east end of the Cougar Pass Trail. I stayed on the WTCT up to the old Clay Pit and used the wooden bench for my lunch. I had a view east to Tiger Mtn. and some snowy peaks in the distance. Felt good to have lunch in the sunshine after months of rainy weather. A lone lady bug joined me on the bench for some sun. After eating I headed down the Clay Pit Road a short distance and took the Mine Shaft Trail south. After passing the grated cover for the old air shaft that went down 1,200 feet get fresh air to the miners working at that depth. The trail goes up and then back down to get to Jerry's Duck Pond. The pond had a lot of algae and two Mallard ducks were swimming around enjoying it. From the pond the trails turns into the East Fork Trail to get down to Fred's RR Trail. Two spots on this trail had water running down it with some mud holes. One section had a nice turnpike with crushed rock to keep the trail out of the creek water. Once down at Fred's, I hiked north to get back to the By Pass and Old Man's trails to finish my loop hike. One of the old flooded mine shaft openings has water going over Fred's RR Trail.

Only saw a few other hikers on my trip, plus some dog walkers and trail runners, so now crowds on this hike. Some of the trails have some mud holes do to all the rain the passed months. A few fallen trees to step over. George

Highlight 1: 8 foot bridges over small creeks within a 1 mile hike of Sky Country lot.  Hydrology willing, if you hike (Sky Country Lot -> Sky Country Trail -> left on Military Road Trail -> left on Red Town Creek Trail) by the time you reach Cave Hole Trail you've hiked 1 mile and crossed 8 foot bridges over small creeks (see pic below of fanciest one).

Highlight 2: Coal Creek Falls is always a dazzler (see pic).

Cougar Mountain Trails Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 5.02 miles/818 vertical feet.

Parking: At about 3:30 PM on a sunny Saturday, Sky Country was mostly full.  Port-a-potty on lot.

Trail: The top of Military Road Trail and some of Coal Creek Falls trail are muddy, but you can just go around it.  There are still some trees down (e.g., top of Quarry) you can't step over, but you can climb over or crawl under them.

Wildlife: Many, many birds including a very boisterous flock of waterfowl on Klondike Marsh.

Cougar Mountain Trails Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 10.25 miles/2,398 vertical feet.

Through Hiked: Spouse dropped me off while on errands and I hiked back to a stashed bike.  It's really liberating not having to go back to where you started.

Parking Lots: Plenty of parking at the Newport pull-out, Red Town, and Sky Country.

Weather: With the wood smoke, more autumnal than vernal, but still lovely hiking in light gear; doesn't feel at all like winter.

Trail: Mostly clear with good traction.  There is a little more mud than there has been recently, mostly in boggy areas or where the soil has a lot of clay.  Nothing you can't go around.

Tree Obstacles: Drifts of sawdust are the remnants of the massive King Country effort to clear the trails.  There are still trees down, but I could just step over all but one.  If I were taller, I could have stepped over that one.

Wildlife: Singing birds, croaking frogs, chirping squirrels; things are really waking up.

We decided to do a loop hike from the Sky Country Trailhead parking lot. Note the Sani-Can is full with no tp. The trail starts by going through the former US Army Nike missile base that closed back in 1963. This was one of several Nike bases around Puget Sound in case USSR Bear bombers were coming into Seattle during the cold war. After the base closed, the property went to the Issaquah School District. They brought in portables for an elementary school that lasted one year, then the property was sold to King County Parks. Along the Old Miners Trail a short distance from where it begins, on the left side of the trail is a small A-frame building. This was part of the kennels for the guard dogs at the Army base. Further along this trail is a large conifer tree down over the trail to get through. Then we hiked up to Fred's Railroad Trail and turned up the East Fork Trail. There were several trees that had blown down, but have been cut out. Some new turnpikes were constructed since we had last hiked this trail. Then we got to Jerry's Duck Pond where the trail goes around it and becomes the Mine Shaft Trail. When we arrived at the mine air shaft we took a snack break. This air shaft goes down 1,200 feet to the Primrose Mine. That is like two Space Needles stacked on top of each other. A large fan was on top of the shaft to get clean air down to the miners because of bad gasses like methane, CO and CO2. Coal was mined from Cougar Mtn. from 1863 to 1963 with 10.1 million tons removed. When we got down to the Clay Pit Road we walked up it to get to Tibbetts Marsh Trail. The clay from the pit was used to make bricks at the Newcastle Brick Works. Twenty five million bricks a year were made with 900 million made during the 50 years the plant was in operation. The bricks in Red Square at the UW in Seattle came from this plant. 

We then headed down the Tibbetts Marsh Trail and crossed Tibbetts Creek on a good log bridge. This trail took us up to the Million Dollar View for lunch. Great view today up to Mt. Baker, along with Pilchuck, Three Fingers, Big Bear and Liberty Mountains. You also have a great view down to Lake Sammamish. There are three picnic tables at this spot. After lunch we headed west over to the Lost Beagle Trail. We walked through the former Army anti-aircraft gun site that was used prior to the Nike missiles. There are two covered picnic shelters in the grass field. Hiking the old concrete sidewalk and stairs, we got to the Lost Beagle Trail. Going down it there was one fallen alder tree before getting to the Klondike Swamp Trail. We turned right to get over to the Coyote Creek Trail. There are two fallen hemlock trees over this trail, with one that we had to climb over. Then it was down hill to the parking lot to complete our loop hike.

Not too many other hikers out on this sunny day. We did see lots of gnats flying around enjoying the sunshine. Except for a few fallen trees and a few muddy spots, the trails we hiked were in good shape. Check out the back of the trailhead kiosk for info on the old Nike base with some interesting photos.

Water is thundering over Coal Creek Falls!

Cougar Mountain Trails Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 4.42 miles/647 vertical feet.

Parking: Plenty of parking at Sky Country at about 2 PM on a sometimes-sunny-sometimes-rainy Tuesday.  Lot has a port-a-potty.

Trail: Some alders are down across the East Fork Trail, Cougar Pass Trail, and By Pass Trail, but they are manageable.  Five years ago, every Cougar Mountain trail would be some combination of swamp and stream.  Thanks to years of WTA work, there was just one portion of Quarry that was 100+ feet of stream.  Everywhere else, successful WTA water diverting was in evidence. 

Hazard: Maintenance folks have cleared nearly all of the maple leaves, but now the alder leaves are down.  With leaves covering the trails, it is impossible to guess whether your next step will be swallowed by mud or whether you'll roll your ankle on an unseen rock.  Please don't run trails with heavy leaf cover; it's just not worth an injury that slows you down.

Caution: Blind corners and drivers disregarding traffic directionality create Sky Country parking lot hazards.  Every stretch of the figure-8-shaped lot is a one-way (see the attached picture).  Directionality is indicated with traffic signs and pavement arrows.  However, people frequently drive against the one-ways.  We’ve all disregarded parking lot traffic signs, but the lot has blind corners that are only safe when directionality is followed.  I have seen people charging excitedly into the parking lot and around blind corners with the confidence they have the right-of-way to the whole lane.  I have also seen people in a hurry to get home drive furiously around the same blind corners the wrong way.  At some point, people will collide.  So, do not be one of those people; recognize that, once you are in the parking lot, Mad Max rules apply and drive cautiously around every corner assuming someone could be hurtling against the one-way toward you.