After enduring months of seeing Coal Creek Falls as nothing more than a trickle, it's invigorating to see it at a more robust flow than at our last visit, in September. Weather: chilly, around 40 and falling, persistent mist, turning to steady light drizzle. We began about 9 a.m. from the Anti-Aircraft Peak Trailhead; three hikers were coming out as we went in, but very few others were encountered, thanks to the threat of snowstorm looming later in the day. Entry trails were in fairly good shape, for December. Further along AA Ridge it got a bit boggy and slippery, but easily passable, and my feet stayed dry in tennis shoes. Most deciduous foliage is gone, of course, so Cougar's heavily-canopied trails are actually brighter now, in spite of gloomy skies. Glistening Oregon grape and sword fern were the dominant greenery; the ""grape"" is crowding the narrower trails quite a bit in many places. Many fungi present, but I'm embarrassingly ignorant of mycology. The only wildlife we observed were the usual juncos, chickadees and wrens; not even towhees or squirrels. We were very pleased to see good flow in the East Fork of Coal Creek where the Clay Pit bypass crosses. Cave Hole Road is not in very good condition: in most places only one rut was passable, the other either too eroded or too muddy. Several clumps of comfrey were evident on the Falls trail -- I hadn't noticed them there before....is that just because of less foliage now, or is this a climate-related change? Coal Creek Falls were very nice, probably about 10 to 20 percent of maximum flow. These falls are a wonderful place to sit, rest, meditate; and now while the flow is only moderate it's even a good place for conversation. We returned the same way we entered. I was pleased to make it all the way up the Cave Hole Road grade non-stop; a tough walking hill. We got back to our vehicle just as the weather took a turn for the worse. For a moderately-long but quiet, easy hike to a nice destination, this is hard to beat, any time of year.

I've done quite a bit of rambling on Cougar Mountain in the past few days. In general the trails are in great shape, and the fall colors are reaching their peak. The colors are pretty muted compared to those in the alpine zone, but the lowland maples are trying hard to put on a good show. One pretty area is along the Coal Creek Trail, where there is an abundance of large maples. The little used portion of the trail downstream of Coal Creek Parkway is completely covered with yellow and gold leaves in spots. Coal Creek Falls is also a colorful spot, and a nice place to visit now that the recent rains have revitalized its flow. There are only a few trail maintenance problems that I found. There is one annoying downed tree on the Coal Creek Trail, about a mile from the lower end of the trail at 119th. This section of the trail also suffers from patches of slumped tread that could use some TLC. On the east side of Cougar Mountain, the Shangri-La Trail and the Surprise Creek Trail have many clogged drain dips that need clearing. Both of these trails are built on old roadbeds that travel down the fall line, making them very vulnerable to erosion from running water.

What a lot of trails for such a short hike! I covered about 5 miles of wet soggy trail in Cougar Mt. park on Friday. The hike was in solitude but the trails are very wet with standing water and mud-holes. The purpose was to see Coal Creek Falls in winter and the hike was worth it. Heading from the AA Peak Trail head I walked down Lost Beagle to the Klondike Swamp, then via a connector to Cave Hole, down to the Coal Creek Falls trail. Most of these trails are in good if slightly muddy condition. The falls trail is in excellent shape and you can hear the water roaring over the falls as you get near. After a snack and some photos, I continued on to the Quarry Trail, then back via Fred's Railroad, AA Ridge to my car. I saw only one other person on the hike and no wildlife. The rain was constant and I was soaked but happy on getting back to my car. Hike took about 3 hours.

I went on a little jaunt to Couger mountain to see how the trails and waterfalls were doing after Tuesday's deluge. The weather was strange that day; warm, humid, and misty, reminding me of hiking in Hawaii. Coal Creek Falls was well worth the trip; with the huge volume of water going over it, the falls resembled a mini-Niagra. Mossy Doughty Falls, perhaps the prettiest falls in the park, was flowing quite nicely, too. The spot where the Deciever Trail crosses the creek near Doughty Falls is one of the pleasant places in the park. There's a pool of water next to a hollowed-out cedar log, which the trail cleverly uses as a bridge. Above, autumn-golden maples provide a colorful canopy. Despite all the rain, the Couger Mountain trails are in amazingly good shape, thanks to all the work by the WTA and others. There's spots on the Quarry trail with water running on the tread, and a few blowdowns here and there. You can hike in low top sneakers on most of the trail system and your feet will hardly get damp.

The Cougar Mtn Trail from the Red Town trailhead is a perfect after work stroll. The refurbished meadow on the old early 1900s baseball field on the site of what was once an outlying suburb of the coal mining community of Newcastle offers a touching contemplation of change and regeneration. Every trail intersection is clearly marked and maps are able to be picked up at the trailhead. Excluding the occasional evidence of horses the trail itself could not be in better condition - one could almost hike it in street shoes. We had the thrill of being able to listen hard to a large animal ( bear, deer?) just past the Shy Bear swamp without catching sight of it. After harvesting some angel wing mushrooms from a fallen log ( and vowing to return for a serious mushroom hunt in the fall) we made our to the Coal Creek Falls and took a scramble provided with conveniently placed handholds of tree roots to a perch overlooking it. From there the whisper of water and a glance of an Anna's Hummingbird, quicker than a bee. Absolutely no one else was around. If there were bugs we didn't notice them.