I wanted to get out in the woods and do some walking after doing most of my exercise in Seattle on sidewalks and streets.  I thought of doing a hike nearby on trails with which I'm familiar; I selected or rather the situation selected the Coal Creek Falls Loop out of the Sky Country Trail Head on Cougar Mountain.

The parking lot was somewhat crowded (about half full) and several parties were in the lot getting ready for their hike.  My first thought was to do a hike along the Military Road Trail so headed down Cave Hole but encountered no hikers {surprised}.  Then decided to do the Coal Creek Falls loop as it appeared there were not that many folks on the trail, I was mistaken.  Going down toward the falls I met several groups with dogs and children and found several groups having lunch around the falls.

I had no problem keeping a safe distance from these groups by stepping off the trail or waiting to go into areas where they had stopped. 

The trails are in good shape with little mud.  Flowers like phlox and fox glove are in bloom and generally the weather was great for this hike.  Coal Creek Falls had what I think of as a average flow.  

Hike statistics:  time 1 hr 50 min, distance 3.8 miles, elevation gain 453 feet.  Hike details and map https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/recording-jun-29-1-14-pm-f5f8590?p=-1

Arrived at Red Town Trailhead at 3:30pm, and there was surprisingly plenty of parking for Friday afternoon. We did a loop hike: Red Town Trail - Cave Hole Trail - Coal Creek Falls  Trail - Quarry Trail - Fred’s Railroad Trail - By Pass Trail - Cave Hole Trail - Red Town Creek Trail - Military Road. A short, easy hike. Estimated about 4.25 miles and ~500 elevation gain. Good hike for families. Can be shortened or extended. Definitely download the Cougar Mountain trail map before you go! Back at the trailhead at about 5pm. 

Trying to avoid the inevitable crowds which are bursting from the COVID-19 quarantine starting gate on this hot and sunny Mother's Day weekend, we decided for this loop at Cougar Mountain. It's shady, tends to be uncrowded, and for much of the potentially busier parts the trail is quite wide, remnants of historic logging roads and giving easier opportunity for social distancing.

I call it the "3 waterfall loop" -  it goes by Doughty Falls, Far Country Falls, and Coal Creek Falls. It's 6.5 miles with 1100 feet of gain.

Note that you can shorten this to either 3 miles (and one waterfall - Coal Creek) using Quarry Trail or 5 miles (and two waterfalls - Coal Creek and Far Country) by turning onto Shy Bear/Deceiver off Fred's RR. It's a pleasant ramble through some varied forests with a viewpoint or two, and the waterfalls, each with their own character, make for nice highlights. Lots of bleeding heart and other little flowers blooming, Not spectacular or particular strenuous but fine for a hot busy day and avoiding more instagrammed hikes. Also note: With at least 10 trails to connect, you'll want a map! 

Got to the parking lot at Sky Country trailhead at 12 and it was probably 80 percent full, better than other trailheads from reports. Did the loop counterclockwise. From car to Far Country lookout via Fred's RR/Shy Bear we probably only saw maybe three family groups and two trail runners.  Coal Creek Falls area was definitely busier with people looping from Red Town trailhead. The cool air by the falls felt great but it was busy enough that we didn't linger once we let the dog get a nice splash in the creek. With breaks and a leisurely pace we did this in 2:45. 

I wanted to make a nice loop from home up Squak and Cougar that swung by Longview Peak as part of my self propelled summits project.

Made my way to the Bullitt Fireplace TH on Squak and climbed that trail until the intersection with the new trail which as far as I know, doesn't have a name yet.  It is a beautiful trail winding it's way up the mountain, absolutely delightful!   Thank you so much to all the volunteers who put in such hard work to make this a reality!

At the end of this trail, you come right out at Margaret's Way and so I descended this trail, another Squak favorite of mine.  No obstacles remain from the storms and there are just a couple of muddy sections.  Once I was down to the trailhead, I scampered across 900 to the Wilderness Peak/Creek TH and climbed up that trail.  Again, no obstacles.

Hopped on Deceiver, swung by Longview Peak to tag it then continued on to the junction with Shy Bear, where I hung a right and followed that to Fred's RailRoad Grade and then to Tibbets Marsh to Tibbets creek.  One blowdown on Tibbets Marsh to crawl over or under but that was the only obstacle.

Then coasted down Tibbets to Bear Ridge, to Shangri La to No Name and finally down Red Cedar. So many trails to choose from!  Again, all of these trails are in great shape.  Came out on Preston and made the finish on pavement to home.

A really fun loop that was about 16 miles.  I am including my Strava track below to help give an idea of the route as it involves so many trails.  Best news though, the bushes and trees are really starting to have leaves sprout. Spring is coming! 

Began my loop hike from the Sky Country Trailhead by the former US Army Nike missile base. Hiked the Old Man's Trail out to the By Pass Trail. I noticed some new flagging that looked like a future trail relocation. Once up to Fred's RR Trail I turned left, crossed the Clay Pit Road and started up the Klondike Swamp Trail. In about 1/4 mile I turned right on to the Cougar Pass Trail. In one section a small creek is running down the trail with a big mud hole, so looks like it could use some drainage work by King County Parks. At the next junction I turned left on to Harvey Manning Trail (formerly named the Anti-Aircraft Ridge Trail) and headed north. There were a couple of big mud holes on the lower part of this trail. Met three hikers going south. When I got to the Lost Beagle Trail, I went up it the opening in the old chain link fence and hike down to the Harvey Manning Trailhead on Anti-Aircraft Peak. From the parking lot I hiked up to the Million Dollar Viewpoint and had a snack break at the picnic table. No mountain view today with the clouds up north, but a nice view over Lake Sammamish.

After my snack I headed down the Shangri La Trail (on an old roadbed) to get to the Proctector Trail and took it to meet up with the West Tibbetts Creek Trail. Crossed the creek on a nice log bridge and then headed up hill to meet the east end of the Cougar Pass Trail. I stayed on the WTCT up to the old Clay Pit and used the wooden bench for my lunch. I had a view east to Tiger Mtn. and some snowy peaks in the distance. Felt good to have lunch in the sunshine after months of rainy weather. A lone lady bug joined me on the bench for some sun. After eating I headed down the Clay Pit Road a short distance and took the Mine Shaft Trail south. After passing the grated cover for the old air shaft that went down 1,200 feet get fresh air to the miners working at that depth. The trail goes up and then back down to get to Jerry's Duck Pond. The pond had a lot of algae and two Mallard ducks were swimming around enjoying it. From the pond the trails turns into the East Fork Trail to get down to Fred's RR Trail. Two spots on this trail had water running down it with some mud holes. One section had a nice turnpike with crushed rock to keep the trail out of the creek water. Once down at Fred's, I hiked north to get back to the By Pass and Old Man's trails to finish my loop hike. One of the old flooded mine shaft openings has water going over Fred's RR Trail.

Only saw a few other hikers on my trip, plus some dog walkers and trail runners, so now crowds on this hike. Some of the trails have some mud holes do to all the rain the passed months. A few fallen trees to step over. George