Started shortly after 10 am, parking lot about 1/3 full. (Referring to the small "regular" lot, not the large lot for horse trailers. There were easily 10+ horse trailers parked this morning though. More than I've ever seen at one time.)

We hiked up the Holder Ridge Trail and then up Holder Knob. Trail was in good shape. A few muddy parts but nothing bad. I was fine walking in trail running shoes. No views at the top since it was a cloudy morning. 

We took the old road back to the trail head. In total, we hiked about 4 miles. We only came across three other hikes and two mountain bikers. Oddly enough for so many horse trailers, we didn't come across a single horse on the trail! 

Hike Notes:

Not all of the Issaquah Alps are viewed equally. There is The Instagram Influencer: Rattlesnake Ledge, The Seattle Mountaineer's Local Darling: Tiger Mountain, The Friendly One: Cougar Mountain, and The Overlooked One/Middle Child: Squak Mountain. Then there is The Forgotten One: Taylor Mountain.

I have been giving Taylor Mountain a lot of attention this calendar year, and decided to give more today. Up to Holder Knob I went via the Ridge Line Trail. On an absolutely gorgeous and warm Sunday, the parking lot had plenty of space when I arrived quite late around Noon (quite the juxtaposition to the overflowed Poo Poo parking lot I drove by on my way here). I only saw a few people (and horses) on the round trip out and back.

The trail is very well maintained and the forest is beautiful, with lots of 2nd growth biodiversity. There is quite a lot of horse droppings on this trail, and while I tried my hardest not to step in any, I landed in a sneaky one with less than 0.1 to the trailhead.

There is no real view from the top, but there is a nice clearing for horse hitching and picnicking, including a picnic table (see attached pics). There are plenty of routes to explore in this forest and "choose your own adventure." I do believe this forest has a higher bear presence than the other 'Alps' due to its relative remoteness. However today, unlike in previous trips, I saw no bear evidence.

This is a great area to get out in if you are trying to avoid the crowds and don't mind a "tunnel of green."

We went for a wander on Taylor Mountain, ascending to Holder Knob, around to another unnamed ridge, back down Holder Creek.  The spring ferns and foliage were restful.  The trail is well-maintained.  The west side of Holder Creek is closed at the bridge due to "storm damage".  Lots of horses use the trail, so you have to watch where you step!  On the two high points there are picnic tables and hitching rails.  We scared up a ptarmigan, and conversed with a great horned owl. Covered about 5.5 miles, and there's lots more trails to explore on another day.

My friend, Matt, and I hiked to the summit of Taylor Mountain, then continued on to Brew Hill today. It was the first time either of us had been in this area. We picked up the faint trail at the far east end of the large, gravel parking lot directly across Highway 18 from the Tiger Mountain trailhead parking area. The path begins with a short stretch through forest, then crosses a powerline road and picks up a forest road on the other side. That road took us 4 miles to the summit of Taylor Mountain which lies at about 2600 feet of elevation. Along the way, we saw coyote scat along with horse and bear scat. It took us about 1.5 hours to this point, and we logged a gain about 1432’. There was no snow today, but if there were, I think it would be a great snowshoe hike.

Taylor summit is ringed by trees and would not have offered us any views even if the day had been clear. So after a quick break to orient ourselves, we continued on the forest road for another half mile, at which point the road seemed to end. Scrutinizing the trees, we saw a faint boot path through the brush. It wasn’t long before we were walking through a spectacular forest with very little undergrowth. Some of the time we were on an abandoned road and at other times on a boot path. Sporadic signs informed us we were near the Cedar River watershed.  Here and there, we encountered marshy areas with skunk cabbage beginning to emerge.

About one mile from Taylor summit we arrived at Brew Hill where we found several small hills in the forest, any one of which could have been the Brew Hill high point. We checked out four such places, noting the elevation on each. They were all within a few feet of each other. The ground and foliage were quite damp, having rained all night and part of the morning when we were hiking. We took a snack break in the cold, damp breeze, then returned the way we came logging a total of 11 miles round trip and 1842 feet elevation gain. We both felt the area around Brew Hill, far enough away from Highway 18 to offer solitude and a beautiful forest, was worth the effort to get there.