The purpose of this trip was to survey the remaining trails in the southeast corner of the park. Here is the order: South Access Road #S1, Equestrian Loop (upper access) #S4, Phils Creek #S3, No-Name, South Access Road #S1, Old Griz #C4, Phils Creek #S3, Equestrian Loop (through lower access) #S4, South Access Road #S1 Phils Creek Trail has a few logs obstructing and some muddy and brushy areas between Equestrian Loop and No-Name Trails. The No-Name Trail has some very brushy spots. There are many logs across the Old Griz Trail. Phils Creek is in mostly good condition north of the No-Name Trail. The Equestrian Loop has some very muddy spots. There is a light dusting of snow above 1500 feet. Skies were overcast yielding to scattered clouds. Temperatures were cool to warm depending on location and time.

Spent Sunday morning hiking around Squwak mountain . I started at the Mountainside access point and went up the central creek trail coming back down Phil's creek trail and the Eastside trail, (a very nice loop as described in Mr. Manning's 55 hikes around Snoqualmie Pass book. It was pretty windy and there was some new blow down on the trail. Saw a good sized alder crack and go over just a half mile or so from the trail head. There was still snow from several days before covering the top 400 or 500 vertical feet of the mountain. It was pretty darn sloppy, (read popsicles for toes.) The top was completely socked in, couldn't even see the top of the microwave towers and pretty darn windy up there too. Phil's creek trail was very slippery, a hiking stick would have helped, (or a tobogan...) There is a new, good sized mud slide on the return trip along the Eastside trail, but mother nature slid a nice stump right in the middle to hold on to while pulling you boots out of the mud. This is a very nice loop for a morning or afternoon; quiet, lots of great scenery and close.

The hike up the road is quite tedious. The views from Central Peak aren't very good. Headed down the Bullitt Fireplace Trail and turned around at 1680 feet after realising the Green Trails map hadn't been field checked prior to publication. The Valley Connector and West Peak Trails are not as shown on the map (they are probably proposed trails). Will try to intercept them from the May Valley Trail to find the true alignment and condition of these trails (if they exist). Returned via the trails to the east of the South Access Road which were fair alternatives to the road. There are many branches, twigs and logs across the Central Peak and Bullitt Fireplace Trails. The Summit Trail is either new or has received some major reconstruction work recently. There is one large log across the Phils Creek Trail. There are many muddy spots on the Equestrian Loop Trail. Violets were seen. Skies were overcast with rain starting in the afternoon.

Quick loop trip to place a Geocache (see http://www.geocache.org) East ridge trail is in excellent condition due to the efforts of WTAers. We heard woodpeckers and saw nobody on this 5 mile trip. Nettels are begining to come out but are not a problem yet. The Phil's creek trail portion between the junction with the East Ridge and the Tie Mill has been improved with a lot of nice rock work near culverts. It is still a bit rugged down to the East Ridge trail which has some persistant mud holes. Go up now for views before trees leaf out.

With a great need to escape days of nearly constant freezing fog at the Fall City homestead, Gary met me here and we headed to the trailhead for Squak Mountain off the May Valley road. How wonderful it is to finally have a REAL trailhead for this gem of the Issaquah Alps, complete with parking space even! It was freezing cold at the trailhead – ice on the trees, trail, plants, and soon as it felt…on us. We headed up the road to the first trail that left it to the right, the equestrian trail / Phil’s Creek trail. The hiking became spectacular, with the freezing conditions making what could be a muddy hike pleasant since it’s been dry for 10 days and what moisture was there was hard. After dropping down to cross Phil’s Creek in a pretty ravine, we headed up through a dense forest mix of hemlock, cedar, and fir, with some open hardwood areas as well. Our trek continued on up Phil’s Creek trail until we hit an unsigned junction, where we took a left to continue up to meet with the road once again a mer ¼ mile from the top of Central Peak. A quick steep walk up and we were basking in 55-degree sunshine, no wind, and a definite lack of the “chunky” smelling air of the inversion-buried lowlands. With the various collection of transmitter towers to stare at, we gulped down lunch, and headed back down a slightly different trail to get back to the Phil’s Creek trail, and retraced our steps back to the frigid lower slopes and trailhead. We’ll return to explore the western side of the mountain and all the artifacts of the Bullet family homestead at another time. But this 7+ mile day was spectacular, and Squak Mountain has a feel of wildness to it most don’t know, and we also had the trails to ourselves the entire day. Now all I need to do is wait until January 13th to return, this next time for a trail party and photo day to shoot the trail workers! Alan L. Bauer 12/27/99