This was a 4.5 mile round trip with about 500 to 600 feet of elevation gain/loss. The trails are mostly dried out from the wet spring with very few mud holes that have not hardened.

The spring rains did bring out flowers, phlox, trillium and bleeding heart were in evidence. The trees are all decked out with spring leaves and the scent of spring was in the air on this sunny day. It took about 1.75 hours to do the hike sans pack and with light hiking shoes.

Saw several hikers on the trail to Wilderness Peak and one man resting on the bench at the summit.

A great walk and a nice sunny day for a walk.

This was a quick outing in Cougar Mt. Park, about 3 miles in length with a fair number of mud/water holes and blowdowns on the trail. With all of this the trip took about 1 hour to complete with some stops for dogs [dog owners, if your dogs do not like seeing strange people, keep them on a leash] on the trail and photos (this is the quickest I have walked this trail).

There is still some snow in the area I hiked but only one patch on the trail (Nike Horse Trail). There were several downed trees on the Quarry Trail including one that horses can not pass (a duck under and step over maneuver). The other blow downs were not as bad and there was evidence of horses getting over these as well as deer tracks in some of the muddy areas.

Coal creek was running high and fast and the falls were as full of water as I have ever seen them.

This is a loop series of trails about 7 miles long with about 1300 to 1500 feet of elevation gain/loss over a series of ups and downs.

My first destination was Coal Creek Falls from the Sky Country Trail Head. The route to the falls had lots of folks with dogs and is a nice down hill walk for the most part. Not much water in Coal Creek and the falls were silent to my ears. Trees are leafy and grass is very high after a cool wet summer so not much in the way of views on any of the trails.

From the falls I headed to De Leo Wall via the Marshall Hill trail, on parts of the trail you could see a sharp drop off but no real views due to foliage. All the trails are in good shape with no mud. As most of my hiking in the area has been in fall/winter/spring this was a welcome change.

I passed Far Country falls but again could not see or hear the falls from the trail. The rest of the walk was a nice amble through a shady green forest.

Weather the last two Sunday's has been muggy and warm so I am glad I took extra water with me.

This hike is a short walk on the ridges of Cougar Mt. Park. The trails are slightly muddy but not at all as muddy as they can be. Patches of snow linger in the forest from the recent snow fall and spring is still 2 to 4 weeks away for this area, by my estimation.

Overall trip is about 4 miles long with 500 feet of elevation gain. It took me about 1.75 hours to walk to Wilderness Peak and return to the Sky Country trail head. Not many people on the trails but I did pass a walker in socks, not sure what was going on but the wet muddy trails would surely ruin a pair of white athletic socks quickly.

Other than a recent tree fall (Hemlock, I think) over some switchbacks near Shy Bear Pass, the trail is in very walkable shape. No big views on these trails (did see what I believe to be Commencement Bay from The Wilderness Peak Trail), just lots of trees, peace and quite.

One last note, Wilderness Peak now has a nice bench made in memorial to two Japanese Americans (hope I got the ancestry correct). It is a nice resting place for a snack or to enjoy the forest that is the Peak.