There are some weekends when you know you can't make it very far or up too steep a hill. Also, we had a Superbowl to catch later in the day! It's been almost 10 years since I've been to Cougar Mountain, and today was a perfect day to meander through the moss-covered woods in the rain. We started at the Lakemont trailhead, which appeared to be recently updated; there was only one other car in the gravel lot. The trail started off well-maintained, but quickly turned into a mud pit. Several areas were a little treacherous. We took it slow on some of the muddy hills, but still ended up with muddy shoes (maybe wearing boots instead of trail shoes would have been a better idea). On our trek to the Redtown trailhead, we only passed about 3-4 other groups - a few trail runners, and a small family. Good to see we weren't the only ones who decided to take a walk in the pouring rain! It was a refreshing walk along the Coal Creek, with so much greenery. We saw a few remnants from the mining days and what we believe was the old mining shaft. The waterfall near Redtown was also beautiful, and I can imagine where the name Redtown came from. Overall, we only logged about 5.25 miles from trailhead to trailhead and back, with just under 500 ft gain. With sore muscles and a slight hangover, it took us 2 hours. Not a bad day!

We had hiked all of the trails from the Red Town trailhead over the years on Cougar Mtn., but had not done the Coal Creek Trail that heads west across the road from the parking area. It turned out to be an interesting hike on City of Bellevue trails. From the trailhead on Lakemont Blvd. SE we headed a short distance down to where the trail is next to Coal Creek and one of the old coal mine shafts. This part of the trail is on the old railroad grade where coal trains ran. There is a scenic trail that crosses the creek on a new bridge and loops back to the main trail. A little farther on we came to North Fork Falls, which is roaring at this time. Further on is a smaller waterfall on Coal Creek. When the trail reaches a side creek where the railroad once crossed on a bridge (the train bridge is long gone) the trail leaves the railroad grade, goes up a set of wooden steps and comes out on a gravel service road. We followed the road down, then up a hill back to the trail on the railroad grade. When we reached the junction with the Primrose Trail (Primrose was the name of the most northerly coal deposit seam in the area, 8'-6" thick) we followed it as it switchbacks downhill to the south side of Coal Creek. The City of Bellevue Parks Dept. has done a lot of work to rebuild this trail. New turnpikes, wooden steps and several new wooden truss bridges have been built. The longer truss bridge across Coal Creek was built in 2013, while the other truss bridges went in in 2014. The heavy timbers were brought in via a zip line system. After the first crossing of Coal Creek on this trail is another waterfall coming down from a side creek. We found a good lunch spot along the creek and had the place to ourselves. After eating we continued on the Primrose Trail, recrossed Coal Creek on another new wooden truss bridge, then started uphill to meet the main Coal Creek Trail. This part of the main trail has some ups and downs with some very muddy areas as it heads down to Coal Creek once again. One more new wooden truss bridge over Coal Creek, then up hill on some muddy switchbacks, along a hillside, then down a set of new wooden steps to where the trail is along the side of Coal Creek again. The trail is fairly flat the rest of the way to Coal Creek Parkway SE. We then turned around and headed to Red Town. On the way back we took the main Coal Creek Trail at the junction with the Primrose Trail. It switchbacked uphill, then leveled out, then up another hill to a gravel service road. We hiked up the road a short distance then headed east on the regular trail to the other junction with the Primrose Trail. We continued on the Coal Creek Trail to complete our hike. It was nice to hike a trail we hade not done in the past. You can explore some railroad and coal mine history along the way. Met a few other hikers, dog walkers and trail runners on this hike. It is about 6 miles round trip. For some history of the Coal Creek Trail and Cougar Mtn. from the coal mining days, see the book, "The Coals of Newcastle, A Hundred Years of Hidden History" by Richard and Lucile McDonald. Coal was mined in this area for one hundred years. Over ten million tons of coal was mined.

Due to the 27F temperature and a planned golf outing, Geezer Patrol was minus three for this excursion. I needed to get out of the house and see the sun, so off I went on my own. I ran across this hike perusing the HikingWithMy Brother website. Unlike them, I started from the Lakemont TH instead of the Red Town TH. The first part of the hike/walk is really a waste of time as it meanders downhill between houses and Coal Creek Prkwy to the new bridge. It is noisy and uninspiring plus the new parking lot at the new bridge offers much more parking. Once you leave the bridge parking lot, the noise dims out real fast and off you go into the canyon. Unfortunately, the City of Bellevue has a sewer vent right on the trail which immediately brings back the lovely scent of civilization. There are still a few cedar stumps with the "notches" to remind us this once was a pristine forest. The trail has several mucky spots but fortunately they were hard frozen by the temp. About halfway to Red Town, the trail splits with the Primrose Trail going straight into the canyon and the main trail heading all the way up to the ridge. I took the ridge path which provided a relatively long stretch of fairly level walking all the way to Red Town once it was climbed. Very nice and quiet in here and I only passed a few runners. A defunct coal mine shaft and waterfall greet you just before you emerge at the Red Town TH and the site of the old Cola Creek Hotel. A nice spot to rehydrate before heading back down. If I do this again, I will start from the Red Town TH and take the Primrose Trail turnoff which provides a nice .7 mile loop in the canyon and then return back up as this section of the CC trail is really the nicest. If you want the mileage and altitude then do the full monty like I did. Coming out at the Coal Creek bridge, I just humped it up the power line cut instead of using the trail as it passes the Lakemont TH. 6.5 miles total and a surprising 1100' gain for the day. For an urban hike, this is a good way to wipe out some cabin fever without a long drive.

Beautiful sunny day. Not so much a hike as a nice walk in the woods. Began at Red Town Trailhead and walked to other end (Lamont?). No elevation gain, but nice scenery.

Walked the Coal Creek trail Sunday morning. We drove past the parking area on Coal Creek Parkway as it still looked closed due to the ongoing construction and took the left on 60th up to the Lakemont trail head. One item of note - the Lakemont trail head only has three parking spaces. Starting at Lakemont adds about a mile each way, (for a total of 3.5 rather than 2.5 for a total of 7 total.) The trail is passable through the construction and under the new overpass. The entire trail is in decent shape. There are some blow down but nothing that isn't easily negotiated. The Primrose loop trail is still closed as Bellevue Parks continues to work on the new bridge. The section climbing up out of the lower area just before the first bench has been very nicely regraded and makes it much less slippery in the wet. The falls just west of Redtown offers quite a show with all the recent rain. Lastly, we were treated to a special treat coming back - a half dozen bright red salmon making their way up the creek just east of Coal Creek Parkway.