Several years ago as our husky mix reached 15 years of age, we moved from the Lake Tradition, Rattlesnake Ridge, and Mt. Si type hikes to Cougar Mountain. A favorite emerged, a loop trail that circled and included the top of Anti-Aircraft Peak, accessed from the Harvey Manning Trail head. Although she is dead, we still find this a favorite because of the easy access and the often spectacular views from the roads accessing the trail head.
We had several hours; it was a beautiful, cold day; the weather forecast was for warming and rain. Let's do the loop on Anti-Craft. The access road was narrow and snow and ice covered; it had been plowed, but we were glad we had AWD and high clearance. The dirt road to the trailhead was gated (not unexpected from previous experience with snow) so we turned around, found a spot with two other cars where we could pull off the road into foot deep snow.
The hike was magical; everything was covered with snow. The snow was light, not wet cascade concrete, but it did adhere to any slight horizontal object and most vertical. Snow depth varied from 6 to over 20 inches; wind and overstory interception affected depth. Enough people had walked or jogged the Coyote Creek road that it was easy to follow (on parts of the Lost Beagle trail, we were the second party. Red elderberry bushes and vine maple trees were struggling to maintain their upright positions; often, they bowed to the trail and created interesting obstacle courses. They were clearly not acclimated to the weight of snow. Several red alder trees had snapped off near the ground to ten or more feet above ground and lay across the trail. These were minor obstacles. The stillness and quiet beauty were amazing and a great way to end 2021 and to offer hope for 2022.
We would recommend; however, tomorrow will likely not be clear and will surely end the conditions that made our experience this afternoon so marvelous!
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