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.

Sunday was a quite a day, waking up in Iowa and ending the day with a hike in Cougar Mt. Park. The hike was nice and not very muddy considering all the rain we have been having. The park was quiet and the trails in good condition with the exception of several wind falls. Hike was about 3 miles long and took about 1 hour allowing me with a 16:45 start to be out before the gate closed. The air was fresh, no rain and a peacful time to ponder life was worth the time spent to drive to this gem of a park in Pugetopolus.

The hike had a little bit of everything in it, views of the Cascades, flowers, sun, rain and hail. I started the loop at Anti-Aircraft Peak and wandered down the Shangri-La and Bear Ridge trails to highway 900. Both trails are in relatively good shape with some mud but not the swamp many trails turn into this time of year. Queen Ann’s lace is beginning to flower on the Shangri-La trail but did not see more of this plant on the rest of the hike. On the first leg of the loop views of the Cascades, Tiger and Squak Mountains were great, sun filtered through the spring forest and signs of summer were evident. The hike along Highway 900 was not bad and there is a wide shoulder to walk along for most of this part of the route. One note of caution is that there is a section of about 100 yards with very little shoulder on either side of the highway. I went up the Wilderness Creek and Cliff trails in rain and hail. The sun came out again as I stopped for lunch on the Wilderness Peak Summit. One of the surprises on this section of the hike is a new connector trail to Squak Mt. – E1. There also appears to be an unofficial trail off the Wilderness Peak Summit that may connect with the Cliff trail. I did not walk much of the trail but it does appear to be getting used. From Wilderness Peak I hiked, Shy Bear, Fred’s Railroad, Cougar Pass and Anti-Aircraft Ridge trails back to my vehicle. These trails have mud and water running over them. The trail quality varied from great to boot sucking mud holes. Again the weather provided a mixture of sun, rain and some hail. This hike was a great conditioner for me at least with some distance and good uphill work put in with a typical spring day in Seattle. The forests are beginning to come out of winter even as snow piles up in the Olympics and Cascades. It is a great time to walk and smell the roses.