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Nike Horse Trail, Cave Hole, Coal Creek Falls, Quarry, Marshall's Hill, Wildside Trail-De Leo Wall, Far Country, Shy Bear, Fred's Railroad, By Pass Trial, Old Man Trail
— Aug 28, 2011
— Alpine Art
Day hike
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This is a loop series of trails about 7 miles long with about 1300 to 1500 feet of elevation gain/loss...
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. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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This loop of trails made 5 miles. The trails are in great shape - a bit of mud here...
This loop of trails made 5 miles. The trails are in great shape - a bit of mud here and there, but easy to get around. Coal Creek Falls was full of water. Lots of Bleeding Hearts along the trail as well as other flowers I don't know the names of.
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Mudholes
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This hike is a short walk on the ridges of Cougar Mt. Park. The trails are slightly muddy but...
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. Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Snow on trail
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Despite the hyperventilation of snow-crazed local T.V. weather forecasters, today was quite a nice day for hiking. Starting at the...
Despite the hyperventilation of snow-crazed local T.V. weather forecasters, today was quite a nice day for hiking. Starting at the Sky Country trailhead, I rambled around Cougar Mountain and visited all three of the park's lovely waterfalls (Coal Creek, Doughty, and Far Country) and various other highlights. The air was dry and brisk, a light dusting of snow flocked the trees, and the frozen soil of the trails crunched crisply underfoot...what could be nicer?
Two of the waterfalls have gotten a makeover--Doughty Falls sports a new overlook and the formerly elusive Far Country Falls has a new access trail to its base. The conditions of the trails was generally excellent, with a few minor blowdowns here and there being the main problem. Often I will do a trail-by-trail breakdown of maintenance problems in my trip reports, but there is no need here at Cougar Mountain. Not much snow, ice or mud anywhere. Some general issues deserve a mention: The Vista Points--Long View Peak and Far Country have become grown over and don't offer much of a view anymore. May I suggest that King County do a little tasteful tree removal to improve the view? The Holly Menace--Something has to be done about the slow motion invasion of holly trees through out the park. They are everywhere! Otherwise, in 20 years, the trails in the park will be viewless tunnels through thickets of those scratchy shrubs. The Renton Fish and Game Club--Somehow, even though they are about 3 to 4 miles south of Cougar Mountain, they are blanketing the park in gunfire noise. This problem seems to have gotten much worse in recent years. They need to build higher berms and walls to mitigate the noise. For now, I only hike at Cougar Mountain on mondays and tuesdays, where they are closed. Ah, blessed silence!
Shy Bear, Deceiver, East Fork
— Mar 29, 2010
— whitebark
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Mudholes
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I took advantage of a few hours of dry weather to tour some of Cougar Mountain's trails. The chilly storm...
I took advantage of a few hours of dry weather to tour some of Cougar Mountain's trails. The chilly storm engulfing the Northwest had left patches of snow on the higher regions of Cougar Mountain, but signs of spring abounded despite the cold weather.
In a suburban park like this, the trails should pass the tennis shoe test, that is one should be able to hike in tennis shoes without getting one's feet soaked in mud and water. For the most part, I found that Cougar Mountain's trails passed the test with flying colors. One problem with Cougar Mountain is the gunfire noise coming in from the Renton Fish and Game Club. This noise seems to have gotten much worse in recent years. The club is not open monday or tuesday, so these days are the best time to hike if you want some peace and quiet here. Here's more info on some of the trails I visited: Shy Bear Trail Highlights: A secluded valley with creeks and marshes abounding with newly sprouting skunk cabbages. Condition: recently reworked by the WTA and in good shape Deceiver Trail Highlights: Pretty forest, Long View Peak (not much a view), beautiful mossy Doughty Falls, which is flowing strongly now. Condition: Good, with signs of reworked tread. The Doughty Falls viewing spot now has log steps and there is a new bridge over the creek. East Fork Trail Highlights: A quiet forest trail with small creeks and ponds, the Clay Pit vista, mining artifacts Condition: Formerly this trail suffered from water runoff and mud. Now it's much better than it used to be, thanks to the WTA |
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