The rain was pouring in Seattle but I wanted to get out and smell the moss. Despite warnings of bad weather from my wife, I headed to the Issaquah Alps gathering of soggy souls for the ""Three Water Falls"" hike in Cougar Mt. Park. The weather turned out to be rather good with most of the rain occurring during the drive to and from the hike. The trails were a bit muddy but not as bad as they can be at this time of year. There was some wind fall but nothing that could not be stepped over or gotten under. Of the three falls Doughty was the least memorable. Both Far Country and Coal Creek falls were running at winter normal with the recent rain. At Longview Peak the view was of snow covered hills to the south. We had no snow during the hike but some hail and rain. All in all it was a good day for a walk; despite the rain and gloom in Seattle.

A long phone conversation with my brother and his family delayed my departure for the Alps until well after noon. The delay likely gave me much better weather as the rains ended and sunshine appeared about a third of the way though this walk. There is lots of water in the streams, Coal Creek and the others are running very high even for winter. The Wildside trail is muddy with mud most of the way to the Far Country look out. The rest of the trail system was fairly dry. Coal Creek Falls was roaring and a sight to see. There is some fresh blow down near the junction of the Quarry Trail and Fred’s RR trail and on the Coal Creek Falls trail as it nears the Cave Hole trail junction. The blow down on the Quarry Trail looks like it may have stopped some horse riders. There may be a detour around the trees but for a hiker just going under seemed the easiest approach. Hike was about 5 to 6 miles in length with good weather, much warmer than I had expected and prepared for. Despite a bumper crop of cars at Red Town Trail Head, the trails past Far Country were empty.

This is a great hike in Spring with the creek flowing, birds singing and the sun flowing through the trees. The total distance is about 6 miles round trip which can be easily done in 2 to 2.5 hours with breaks to see the two falls in route. Coal Creek was running ""high"" on Saturday, at least with as much water as I have seen in the creek. Kids and dogs were splashing in the lower part of the creek. Low land flowers are nearing their peak so it was a good time to see much of the flora while walking. The falls Sandstone and North Fork are well worth seeing. There were some good sized mud holes on the Primrose trail but in general the trail was in excellent shape considering the rain we have had this spring. Only cautions are to be careful crossing Coal Creek Parkway - more like a ""speedway"" than a Parkway. The trail continues toward Lake Washington but caution needs to be taken to cross Coal Creek Parkway.

There are about 20 logs across the Coal Creek Trail. Only five of them probably need to be removed as the rest are easily stepped over. A new Quarry Trail has been built to bypass the older trail which followed a steep road grade.

I've hiked this trail at least 20 times in the past 4 years, but I have never seen it this beautiful before. The trailhead is off of Coal Creek Pkwy about 1 mi from I-405 (bottom of the dip). Even though this park is surrounded by homes it has a distinctly remote and wild feeling about it. The understory vegitation is incredible. The young plants are tightly packed and in perfect form. Lots of flowers including Trillium dot the landscape. It almost looks like the place is tended to by millions of finicky gardeners. A nice loop can be made by decending the Primrose trail. Someone has recently built a beautiful bridge across Coal Ck (thank you). In fact the entire trail is in great condition thanks to lots of volunteer work done over the last 2 yrs. Check it out, the place is at it's best right now.