Impassable.  C1-Central peak trail (the one connecting to the north junctions), approximately 0.25 MI North downhill of the radio tower, hill is too steep to go uphill or downhill and around. Met a couple later indicating they had come up that trail and aborted. 

Impassable.  Old Griz, close to the upper junction is blocked by a 200 ft tree with 50 ft width. It may be possible to go around several hundred feet, but with that trail following the ridge I suspect there are spots we're getting around is very dangerous. 

Difficult.  West peak trail, some downed trees obscure the trail, it is necessary to navigate around and back onto the trail. Some places require climbing down through trees, and with branches on top of roots footing is more difficult than usual. 

Medium.  There is one tree to climb up through on the way to the fireplace. There are several between the fireplace and Central peak that require small climbing or routing around. 

Easy.  A few downed trees toward Debbie's view, easy to get around but at least one is 2 or 3 ft in diameter and requires a hop. 

There is a new viewpoint between the fireplace and the radio tower, enormous trees completely uprooted on the north side of the saddle. Weather was quite beautiful today; avoided all rain. 39--49F, dark when it should have been dark, and sunny later in the morning. A few spots with a little bit of mud, but nothing crazy. No snow on the ground.

9.85mi 940m

Made up a loop on the east side of Squak Mountain by combining several trails listed above. There were 4 cars at the TH at 8am. One of the pit toilets was open the other was closed. The trails are in good shape. There were muddy spots from recent rains. Lots of slugs and snails of many sizes and colors, especially on Phil's Creek and May Valley loop. Tons of flowers blooming: miners lettuce(candy flower), meadow buttercup, broad leaved avenue and my first Columbian wildflower. Parts of the trails are getting brushy including plenty of berry vines, stinging nettle and devil's club! We explored the unofficial "bandit" trail to Southeast Peak. It's rough. Lots of ups and downs. The largest down trees and most of the tricky footing was on this trail. I was glad to have poles. but we got passed by a trail runner. There's just a keyhole view off of SE peak viewpoint between tall trees. For this spur once was enough. Phil's Creek our favorite. The bees were working the flowers once the day warmed up. They didn't bother us. A nice cool, cloudy day for trail fun and exercise. 9.5 mi rt x 2100 gain.

A group of friends and I put together a point-to-point "thru-hike" of Squak Mtn. We dropped a car at May Valley Trailhead, which was more full than I have ever seen it, and then headed to the Margaret's Way Trailhead. That lot was completely full, but as we arrived at 11:30 am, after one circle, a car backed up and we were able to easily get a spot. 

Margaret's Way to Debbie's View
We started at Margaret's Way, where we made our way up to Debbie's View. For how crowded both parking lots were, I was expecting more people. We did see several on the way down the final switchbacks at the end of Margaret's Way, but not as crowded as we thought it would be. Trail also was an excellent shape. Almost no mud, but the early signs of mosquitos and a few at the wetter parts. 
  At Debbie's View, we took a lovely break amongst the crowd, as Tahoma was out in her full glory on this beautiful early spring Saturday. It was full, but easy enough to find a seat and enjoy the sun.

West Peak to Bullitt Fireplace to Old Griz
Then we headed up to West Peak, my first time there. The short trail is very up and down, and quite steep. Not much remarkable other than a good workout and some remains of an old cabin, of which not much is left.

We headed down and connected with Bullitt Fireplace Trail, just .2 away. There was no one at the fireplace, to our surprise. I did notice the picnic table has been turned since the last time I was hear 2.5 months ago, allowing for anyone sitting to have a view of the ruins. 

We then followed the trail to the connection with the Old Griz Trail. This side of the mountain seems less traveled, but is full of lush trees and foliage. Absolutely a joy to hike on a nice day like today.

Phil's Creek Trail + Equestrian Loop + South Access Road
We ended with the part of the May Valley Loop. I haven't spent as much time on this side of the mountain but on the higher pars of Phil's Creek Trail, you can see Tiger Mountain through the trees and enjoy a moderate descent into lush creek-land. Then we crossed a bridge and started the descent in earnest on the Equestrian Loop, following several hoof prints. 

We didn't see anyone else once we turned onto the Phil's Creek trail, until we arrived at the parking lot. Prior to that, we saw only 1 other after the fireplace. If you're looking for solitude, it is possible to find it on this mountain if you're willing to forgo Margaret's Way and Debbie's View. I think Phil's Creek in particular is a lovely gem.

I was expecting the trail to be muddy after previous trip reports, but there was hardly any mud. It is in excellent shape after this warm week. 

May Valley vault toilets had both TP and hand sanitizer! The lot was nearly empty when we returned at 4:30 pm. Margaret's Way trailhead was more full, but still less than half. 

A Steve and Jeno shoutout to WTA trip reporter George and Sally.  Your knowledge and history of all of the local trails was our inspiration for today's hike.  Thank you for all of your outstanding trip reports!

I met my sidekick at the May Valley trailhead at 6:00 AM and we headed out to do a loop hike around the south and east sides of Squak Mt this morning.  Our route was May Valley > Phil's Creek > Old Griz > East Side > Thrush Gap aka Phil's Connector > East Ridge (for about 20 feet) then back the way we came via Phil's Creek.

We were worried about the rain after getting soaked this past Wed over on Tiger Mt but other than a few spots of drizzle we stayed dry for the duration of our hike.   There are some trees down in spots along May Valley, Phil's Creek and Old Griz but all are the step over or around variety.   All of the trails are muddy in spots but for the most part are in good shape.  Thrush Gap aka Phil's Connector is a trail that we have read about in George and Sally's reports for years and we wanted to give it a try.  There is no signage for it but the trail is very noticeable off of the East Side trail (lower portion).

Jeno had done a portion of this trail in the past and said it was very overgrown but it wasn't like that today.  It actually looks like someone has brushed it out a bit as the trail was very discernable and easy to follow.  Dare I saw it was in better shape then a certain unnamed "secret" trail on the west side of Squak.      The trail climbs quickly up the hillside after you turn onto it.  I was in front of Jeno and making sure I was on track when I noticed what looked like a big drop to my left.  I don't like heights so I kept to the right and kept looking right and luckily the trail veered in that direction.   Jeno knows I don't like heights and called out "don't look down."  Believe me I didn't.  Later on when we got to a safer spot I said how far was that drop 50 feet or so and he said a lot further than that.  Just something to be aware of on that trail.

We continued over the creek and made the final push up the ridge.  A number of trees were down along the way but we made over all of them before we came to a large Glacier Erratic blocking the trail.  I've mentioned before I am tall with long legs and I don't have the flexibility I once had.  I tried to swing my leg up onto the rock and could not do it.  I finally said the heck with it and with my wide wingspan (I have a long arms as well) I grabbed a hold of it and pulled myself across the top of it.  Jeno was howling in laughter saying I looked like a beached whale (thankfully there are no pictures of that).  I told him I felt more like a sumo wrestler trying to get my arms around it.  Eventually I made it across covered in dirt and moss.  The things we do to hike.   Sheesh.

Once Jeno stopped laughing he scooted across that rock no problem.  It does pay to be vertically challenged at times.    :)

After that it was a short stretch to where we came out on the upper portion of the East Ridge trail about 20 feet from the Phil's Creek trail where we stopped and took our first break of the morning.  That was the only spot today where I thought it might rain on us but after some mist and about the time we were ready to head back down it stopped.   

The trip back was uneventful.  We saw 2 runners on the Phil's Creek trail and one hiker on the Central Peak access road which we took part way back.  The parking lot had about 20 cars in it when we got back at 9:15.  One of the two bathrooms was open and in good shape, clean and stocked as of this morning.

I took SR-900 home and both Margaret's Way and Wilderness Peak were over flowing with cars parked along 900 at both locations.

Stay safe everyone.  See you on the trail.  SR           

Began my lollipop loop hike off of Mountainside Drive in Issaquah. I started on the Bullitt Fireplace Trail, then turned up the Chybinski Loop Trail. At the first junction I went left and entered Squak Mtn. State Park to get to the East Side Trail (EST). When I got to the first bridge on the EST I spotted a metal plaque along the trail. I had not seen it on other hikes since it was covered in leaves. The plaque was for the Boy Scout Troop 625 from Issaquah for an Eagle Scout project to build the bridge back in 1992. They probably built the other two bridges further up the trail. Those Scouts would be around age 45 now. After passing the junction with the Old Griz Trail I continued on the EST to get to the unsigned junction with the Phil's Creek Connector Trail (PCCT). Along the way I could see NE to several peaks like Pilchuck, 3-Fingers and Whitehorse, plus Mt. Baker. At the junction the EST makes a sharp turn to the left at a switchback going NW downhill while the PCCT heads south up the hillside through a conifer forest.

When I had hiked the PCCT 2 years ago, there were several blown down trees to climb over or get around. When I went through today those had been cut out. There are a few you need to step over. Since the Sword Ferns had grown back over the trail, I decided to brush them out as I hiked the trail. Used my folding saw as it makes a good cutting tool for the ferns. Before getting to Crystal Creek, I passed a glacial erratic. Where the trail crosses over the creek is Crystal Creek Falls coming down a rock face. Then the trail goes up two switchbacks and come to a more open area with Red Alders and Maple trees. I then got to the boulder area where you need to climb over one of them. The trail continues along the hillside, passes two other glacier erratics and levels out before getting to the unsigned junction with the East Ridge Trail. I turned west and then headed north on to the Phil's Creek Trail.

After going by the junction for the Summit Trail I found a good fallen Alder tree for my lunch time bench. After lunch I hiked the Phil's Creek Trail crossing over Crystal Creek where I could see up stream to the old Longwell cabin built back in the 1970's. When I arrived at the Old Griz Trail junction, I headed down it to get back to the East Side Trail. I could see Issaquah High School, the football field and track around it. About halfway down the trail was one fallen conifer tree to climb over. Once on the East Side Trail I went back the way I had come in the morning.

I did not see any wildlife but did meet two young women hikers and their friendly dog on the East Ridge Trail, the only hikers I saw all day.

Note: The latest edition of the Green Trails map for Squak Mtn. does show the Phil's Creek Connector Trail I hiked, but on the back side of the map where it lists the trail, it has it in the wrong area. A good book to read about the trails on Squak Mtn. is, "Squak Mountain, An Island in the Sky, A History and Trails Guide" by Douglas G Simpson and David Langrock.

So, if you would like to hike a trail off the beaten path check out the Phil's Creek Connection Trail for some new territory to see and a nice waterfall to view. George