Family member and I decided to attempt to do some trail running today. We knew we had to be very careful, assess trail and tree conditions, and constantly be prepared for something falling after the recent storms. Kind of hard to bring myself to get out with all the craziness with power outages, but I think the only reason I’ve been able to persevere is my bucket gets filled regularly with my outdoor hikes. We decided to head to the Harvey Manning trailhead for a run from there and ended up doing quite a mishmash of various trails. Not sure I can call what we did as a run with all the obstacles we ended up having to go over, through, and under. Our route went in a counter-clockwise direction that had us ending on Shangri La Trail. The worst sections we encountered were on Precipice Top, Red Cedars, and Surprise Creek trails. The only creaking/moaning tree we heard was on the Precipice Top trail and the only large blowdown we had to go under was on the Red Cedars trail. On our way out on Shangri La not far from the trailhead parking we saw this large blowdown that someone’s chainsaw lost a battle to. My thanks goes to anyone and everyone who helps clear trails. On W. Tibbetts Creek Trail I attempted to pull a large hanging branch over the trail with eye level poking bits off of another tree and could only get it to fall on the side of the trail, making me wonder if that was really any better. I hope this trip report is helpful for anyone who services these trails. I also hope WTA puts together a new list of upcoming work parties to help clear trails from cyclone damage and gets the word out as I’d love to come help when and where I can!

As we get closer to winter, we begin to retreat to the familiar comfort of the Issaquah Alps. This figure of 8 loop is one of our close to home regulars. Since there's no view points it never gets crowded. We ended up hiking with a nice woman from Mercer Island and her dog Willow.

Our trip to Big Tree Ridge started as an aborted attempt at Red Town Trailhead / De Leo Wall which is CLOSED Monday-Friday from October 28-November 8. Oops. So, we headed north to Big Tree Ridge and found the parking lot still closed, so we parked on the neighborhood street. By the time we used the Portapotties (clean and stocked) and started up the trail, someone came by to unlock the gate around 7:55.

We had a break in the rain but could still hear raindrops plunking on the leaves. Big Tree has been blown clear of leaves to the sign marking the Red Cedar / Surprise Creek Junction, where there is an obvious transition between maintained and natural (pic included). 

We hiked to Harvey Manning Trailhead for the "million dollar view" that was mostly socked in with fog and clouds, then headed back on a "loop" that pitched us out Shangri-La in a development area. My friend was NOT happy about going back up to find the No Name trail, but we both learned some valuable lessons about trusting our gut. At least we didn't have to walk along the city streets.

All in all, we had a nice outing, covering just under 6 miles and about 1775' gain. 11 bird species, no bear sightings (although my dog behaved like he could smell something enticing -- deer? coyote?). Slugs, mushrooms, chipmunks, and lovely ferns were the notables on the day along with some cool trees. We'll have to return to Red Town Trailhead in late November.

ShangriLaaku and RilEast Marsh Trail #HikeaThon

We were hunting the sweet Fantastic Erratic like the great hero Winston Schmidt. Alas, we could not find it. Should have checked the knocked over map at the Harvey Manning Trailhead.

For the 1st day of Hike-A-Thon, we headed to the Harvey Manning Trailhead at Cougar Mountain Regional Park and hiked an easy 2.5 mile loop using the Shangri La Trail, West Tibbetts Creek Trail, and Tibbetts Marsh Trail. We were in search of a "fantastic erratic", but never found it. Only our dogs were erratic on the trail today.

For such an accessible area, we hiked in relative solitude. I have never seen so many well-maintained drains as I did on the Shangri La Trail. Nice work WTA volunteers. Some people just really love drainage work.

After leaving the drains behind and turning onto the West Tibbetts Creek Trail, the berry bonanza began. We even saw a marmot named Miles enjoying them.

On a more serious note, someone left their flannel shirt on the sign post at the intersection of the Shangri La Trail and the Surprise Trail. Photo included.

If you want to follow our hikes this month and donate to our Hike-A-Thon team, look us up! We are The Bark Rangers: https://give.wta.org/team/594432 

#HikeaThon