Hit Cougar Mt for quick end of day run. Hadn’t been on this section of the park for quite some time. Trails looked very different now from both the Nov storm blowdowns/rootballs changing paths and new man made features like a new bridge and steps/railing near Doughty Falls. The park is obviously well taken care of with the blowdowns cut up. There’s one blowdown that’s split on Deceiver Trail though that was not cut and can scrape your legs or snag your pant legs when you run past if not careful. Always seems to have some interesting dusk lighting from here, even on a cloudy day.

Quick out and back from Sky Country trailhead to Wilderness Peak. Plenty of trail runners, hikers etc on this mid-day Sunday, the weather couldn't decide whether to rain, clear, or just mist. No problem with mud, and no issues with down trees but on Old Miner's trail especially it was clear how much work had been done to cut downfall since the November storm, and a huge tree had come down across Fred's Railroad with the trail having to divert a little around the great big root wad. Kudos to all the crews who have worked so hard to keep these trails clear! 5 miles roundtrip with about 550 feet of gain. 

A Sunny brisk Sunday in the middle of December was the perfect day for a hike in the Issaquah Alps. The goal of the hike was two fold; assess the condition of the trails on Cougar Mountain about a month after the Bomb Cyclone windstorm and to see progress on the new steps & view landing at Doughty falls and the new bridge that was constructed this Fall.  The hike started at the Big Tree trailhead up to Harvey Manning Trail Head via the the Red Cedars and No Name and Shangri La trails .  There were numerous down trees all logged out and the trails were very passable and generally in good shape. There were a few areas where minor trail repairs damaged by the uprooting of trees. Million Dollar view was amazing. South on the Coyote Creek trail, a short stent on Freds RR trail over to the Shy Bear trail.  There was one down tree that had been logged on Fred's RR that impacted the trail and was a bit tricky but passable.  From Shy Bear, took the Deceiver Trail over to the Doughty Falls trail. The new steps and and rebuilt view point were very impressive and very well built. The most impressive trail improvement was the new low height bridge!!!.  It was amazing and a wonder how the metal decking and structure was transported to the site which is not near a road.  It also involves a hike down a steep trail  a challenge to transport all of the materials to the work site.  After admiring the new trail work, the hike continued back to the Shy Bear Trail, a quick stint up the Wilderness peak trail and then headed back to the Big Tree Trail head via Freds RR, East Fork Tibbets Marsh, Protector and Surprise Creek connecting back up to the Red Cedars trail.  Overall there were many down trees and significant log out work enabling all trails to be open and passable  

We had a great winter hike today at Cougar Mtn Regional Park.  We met at the Sky Country TH at 9:30.  It was 32 degrees with mostly sunny skies.  The Porta Potties in the lot had TP.  We made a 5.6 mile loop  on hard packed and frost heaved trail surface. King County Parks and trail crews have done an amazing job clear trails since the bomb cyclone weather event 2 weeks ago.  EVERY trail we hiked was cleared of down trees and major limb debris.  Our route  followed - Old Man’s Tr, L on Cave Hole Tr, R on Coyote Creek, R on Klondike Swamp Trail, L on Lost Beagle down to Harvey Manning Th. We went to check out the Million $ View Pagoda but a thick fog layer hung over Lake Sammamish and blocked the view.  Continuing on we went down the Shangri La Tr, R on Tibbett’s Marsh Tr to the Clay Pit.  The sun was out and we found a pile of rocks to sit down and take a rest break down the old Clay Pit road.  Views were not limited here and all the Tiger Mtn Peaks and their Radio Towers were blazing in the sun.  We took the road up to SW from the clay pit and took a R on the start of the East Fork Trail, that did have a large downed tree jumble to climb through.  After that the trail Mine Shaft Tr around Jerry’s Duck pond to the west was completely clear.  To finish our hike took a R on Fred’s Railroad, L on the By Pass Tr down to Cave Hole and back to Old Man’s Tr back to Sky Country TH.   Despite the sunny skies we only passed a few hikers the entire day.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.

So many loops and trails in Cougar, makes for nice rambles. Today we did what I call my 2-waterfall loop at Cougar, starting from Sky Country trailhead and going counterclockwise, using the 9 trails listed. I like this counterclockwise direction better than clockwise because you end flat or slightly downhill instead of a final uphill along the Cave Hole trail. First waterfall is Coal Creek Falls which was running lighter than I expected given all the recent rain. Second is Far Country. Lunch at Far Country Lookout. Sometimes I add Deceiver Trail/Doughty Falls for a 7.5 mile loop 3 waterfall but today just the shorter version. Other additional loops certainly possible. Trails were in good shape with surprisingly little mud. Fun to see the long skinny boardwalk through the marsh on the Shy Bear trail. Probably saw around 20 people in assorted sized groups. 

This ended up being 6 miles and just under 900 feet of gain. Starting raining right when we were finishing.