While Jeno and I have hiked over 90% of the trails on Tiger Mt and Squak Mt we have not done much over on Cougar Mt. We decided to change that up today and try a new trail for us. I sometimes drive home from our Issaquah Alps hikes along Newport Way and have seen the new parking lot/trailhead for Big Tree Ridge and I told Jeno about it so we decided to hike up to the “Million Dollar View” from there this morning via the following route: Big Tree Ridge > Red Cedars > Surprise Creek > Shangri-La > Million Dollar View and back.
I scouted out the parking lot previously and the gate is not closed at night so we were able to pull in before 6 AM this morning and headed out in cold (32 degrees) and foggy conditions. The trail climbs relentlessly upslope via a number of switchbacks. It’s definitely a thigh burner in spots. All the intersections are well marked and the trails are all in good shape with only a couple of small trees down on the Big Tree Ridge trail.
We got to the viewpoint with it’s pergola and picnic tables a little before 7:15. It was still dark and foggy at lower elevations so not much of a view this morning (see my poor photo). After a snack and water break we headed over to Harvey Manning Park which is fairly large. The permanent bathrooms are locked for the winter but they did have two sanikans that were open, clean and stocked. After checking the park out we headed back down. We saw one runner about halfway down and one dog walker near the parking lot but that was it for people on the trail this morning.
The lower parts of this route parallels Surprise Creek in spots and it was really flowing this morning. There are a few spots where you can catch a brief glimpse of it through the trees and we saw a lot of white water. The sound of running water is your companion for a portion of the hike which is quite nice. It sure beats the traffic noise from I-90!
Well, it’s that time of year….Jeno and I want to wish all of our fellow hikers and people we have corresponded with on this website and chatted with on the various trails this year Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy whatever your persuasion may be. I hope Santa brings you what you asked for.
Stay safe everyone. See you on the trail. Ho! Ho! Ho! SR
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