Our group of senior hikers from the SVTC began our hike at the Wilderness Peak Trailhead off Highway 900 going up the Jim Whittaker Wilderness Trail (formerly the Wilderness Creek and Peak Trails) to the first junction. We then took the Nawang Gombu Trail (formerly the Wilderness Cliffs Trail) to get up to the summit of Wilderness Peak. Parts of these trails are steep. We hiked the 0.1 mile over to Wilderness Peak that has no view. There is a register (the book was filled up) and a memorial bench. After some snacks we headed down the trail to Shy Bear Pass and took the Shy Bear Trail. At the next junction we took Fred's Railroad Trail to get to the East Fork Trail. This trail heads up hill and passes by the "Green Lagoon" before going back down hill to reach the old "Mine Shaft" which was an air shaft for miners 1,400' below ground during the Cougar Mtn. coal mining days. This was our lunch stop which has a bench, and a kiosk with info and photos of the old coal mines.
After eating it was a short distance down to the Clay Pit Road. King Country Parks has replanted the former clay pit with Douglas Fir trees. There is a kiosk by the pit with photos and info about the former brick works in Newcastle. Clay from the pit was used in the production of the bricks where 25 million per year were made. During the lifetime of the brick works they made over 900 million of them. We then took the West Tibbetts Trail past Tibbetts Marsh to get to the Bear Ridge Trail. Going down this trail (steep in some sections), we passed the "Fantastic Erratic Glacial Boulder." This big rock has been sitting on Cougar Mtn. for the past 15,000 years when it was left after the Cordilleran Ice Sheet melted back north during the Fraser glaciation. The Bear Ridge Trail switchbacks down the hillside, then follows the ridge line before coming to an old road bed, now just the trail. The Bear Ridge Trail trailhead parking lot along highway 900 only has room for about three vehicles.
Only met a few other hikers up by Wilderness Peak and one near the Clay Pit, otherwise we had the trails to ourselves today. Some of the trails do need some brushing out. The only animal we saw on the hike was the tail of a Douglas Squirrel, the rest of it was missing. Our one way hike was 7.1 miles with about 1,470' gain. George
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