Clay Pit Road, Fred's Railroad, East Fork, Mine Shaft Trail, Tibbett's Marsh, Cougar Pass & Klondike Swamp — Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023

Another short loop at Cougar - pouring rain so we chose a short leg stretcher 3.5 mile loop from the Sky Country trailhead - I had not actually been on a couple of these trails or seen the Clay Pit. Basically we took Clay Pit Road to Freds Railroad to East Fork Trail (that was new to me and a pleasant woodsy trail) circling left through Cougar Pass and back to Clay Pit Road. Made a little 3.5 mile loop, just right since we were pretty well soaked by the end. The little woodsy duck pond on the East Fork Trail is cute and had actual ducks in it, the covered mine shaft and interpretive info was very interesting, and the clay pit was much bigger than I expected with an interesting interpretive sign and nice bench overlooking it (note that it is now public access if you want to explore). All trails in good shape, and well marked, with little mud in places.