A nice quick loop on Cougar Mountain, on an overcast Seattle day. From the Red Town Trailhead we followed Wildside to De Leo Wall for a foggy view of the suburbs below. From there, we circled back to Indian Wells trail, and then up to Coal Creek Falls. Plenty of runoff, so the falls are looking quite nice. Hope you enjoy the pictures Jer http://www.hikingwithmybrother.com

This is a tale of two hikes in the Issaquah Alps over the last two Saturdays. The first hike was on November 14th and did a loop hike to Coal Creek Falls from the Sky Country Trail Head. This is a short 3 mile walk on good trails which were not very muddy and had no significant blow down. There is a new bridge over Coal Creek on the trail, quite nice and likely overdue. On the more recent Saturday, I walked to Wilderness Peak from the Sky Country Trail Head and then to Long View Peak, returning via the Deceiver and Shy Bear Trails. On the 21st there was more evidence of wind fall (blow down) but nothing that could not be stepped over easily. The trails were a bit more muddy and Shy Bear Marsh was more like a shallow lake. On both days I avoided rain, a nice thing, and saw deer tracks in the mud. Trails are still in good shape despite the rain.

We planned to hike in and picnic at the Coal Creek Falls, but upon arriving saw the trail was closed as the bridge was down. I admit we decided to head down it anyway just to check it out and the creek is so completely dried up at the moment we were able to cross the creek bed and bypass the bridge completely. I'm not sure if the falls are usually absent this time of year, but there was no water to be seen on our hike. We continued on to the meadow restoration area, which has some beautiful wildflowers in bloom and includes some interesting signs with information on the restoration effort. All in all a lovely, but unremarkable hike.

The weather was perfect for our hike up Cougar Mountain. We started out on the Red Town Trail and in no time found ourselves at the Meadow Restoration Trail. We looked around but didn't go on it as we had our dog with us and the signed asked to keep pets out. Just around the bend was the start of the Indian Trail. Many thanks to any volunteers that may have helped in this area. There were very well built turnpikes that looked recently installed. They are doing their job well, aside from the occasional pile of horse manure. We came up on the Quarry Trail next and decided to take it since we wanted to get a look at the falls. The switchbacks aren't to steep at all. There was only one noticeable problem where it looks like some of the outside edge of the trail got washed out a bit. Once up the switchbacks there is a large mud hole to avoid but there is a way around it worn in from use already. We then took the Coal Creek Falls Trail to get our view and start back to the parking lot. The falls didn't have to much water going over them but you can hear it as you approach. We passed a few others on their way to the falls all of which seamed to be enjoying the hike. Great time of the year with the weather like it is for a easy hike like this. Also with so many trails all over the mountain you can choose how long/challenging of a hike/jog you want.

This was a GREAT hike! 19 of us (plus 5 pups) accomplished this hike on April 5. The weather was gorgeous, blue and sunny but not too terribly hot that early in the morning. We ran across some WTA volunteers working off Red Town Trail, building a bridge. They made a big deal with kids (sharing chocolate yay!) and really getting the kids excited about our hike. I was very impressed with the WTA volunteers! We also got to see some deer on Red Town Trail. Coal Creek falls was pretty full this time of year. We started from the Sky Country Trailhead, and the parking was gorgeous!! We went past the Red Town Trailhead along the hike, and as usual the parking was PACKED! It was definitely worth the extra hiking distance to park at Sky Country. The trials were in great shape, although there were a few spots on the Quarry Trail that could use some strengthening up, where it's washed out a bit. I assume this is a common problem on this rather narrow, steep trail. We just watched the kids and pups a little closer on this trail. There was also one spot in particular towards the end (closer to the Indian Trail) that was a big, big puddle (think like 6 feet across) where it was a little tricky getting around the water. We ran across a few other hikers, but mostly had the place to ourselves. There was a bit of mud on pretty much every trail, but it wasn't too bad.