Hiked from the AA Peak Trail head down to the Bear Ridge cutoff and from there to SR 900 and back. The trail is in excellent shape for this time of year, no mud and only a occasional slippery patches of leaves to beware of. There were only a few souls out on a foggy Satuday morning but more at the trail head about 1:00 PM on my return to partly cloudy skies and warmer temperatures. The trip was moderate to easy; about a 5 mile round trip. The last half mile near SR 900 was a bit noisy with constuction of a new housing development going on near the trail. I hope this does not mean an end to this trail, much of which is outside the King County Park area. The Fantastic Erratic is worth seeing and the solitude in the Seattle metro area is a real treasure.

After exploring several trails from the base of Cougar Mountain, I decided to start at the top for a change. (I noticed several ""Proposed Land Use Action"" signs for further subdivision on the way to the park---grrrrrr). I arrived at the park, enjoyed the view, then started down the Shangri La trail. The trail was absolutely beautiful. It was cloudy, but relatively warm for December and not raining. The leaves have not yet dissolved so traction was good and mud was not really an issue. My dog and I flew down the trail, then branched off and went to see the Fantastic Erratic glacial boulder. If I found it correctly, then it's covered with baby ferns. I headed back up, going a little slower this time. (I do recommend starting from the bottom, and heading downhill, not the other way around!) Overall the trail was great. Several spots on the trail had recently been worked on, so no extraordinary work was necessary. I've noticed that most of Cougar Mountain's trails are very well-maintained. I started on this journey late in the afternoon and didn't have time to go further, but still enjoyed the trip.

After working on the Cougar Mountain Trails more than a dozen times, I found a day to go and hike the trails for fun. I started at the trailhead at the Anti-aircraft Peak parking lot and followed the Shangri-La Trail down to the Bear Ridge Trail. I hiked it searching for the Eratic Creek Trail descibed in the IATC guide to Cougar Mountain. This trail connects Bear Ridge to the West Tibbett's Creek Trail which I hiked to the clay pit. I walked through the clay pit and felt my boots get heavier with every step. Yes there is clay in the clay pit. From there I took the Mine Trail to look at the big hole in the ground (with a rebar grate over it) and then on to Wilderness Peak via the East Fork and Shy Bear trails. I returned to the parking lot by Fred's Railroad, Cougar Pass, AA ridge, Tibbett's Marsh and Shangri-la Trails. There are so many trails packed into Cougar Mountain it's like being in a maze. There are also many unmarked trails and a lot of historical artifacts that can make a visit to Cougar Mountain a real adventure.