We started from Redtown TH at 9:30 making a loop hike following Military, Sky Country, C3, Coyote Creek, Shangra La, Harvey Manning, By Pass and Cave Hole trails back to the TH. Skies were blue and relatively mild when we started out. There only 5 others cars so we knew the trails would be uncrowded. The picked wind picked up to sizable gusts when we reached the 2 picnic shelters and the Million Dollar View Pergola. After grabbing a quick bite to eat and celebrating Franja’s belated birthday we continued back to Redtown. Several sections of trail have been blown clear of the beautiful falls leaves, including side drainage ditches. THANKS KING County parks crew and trail volunteers. We only had to duck under or step over 4 downed trees. Along the way my group threw deadfall sprigs off the trail. We cut our hike short after an Amber alert about a tornado warning in Kistap county, missing Coal Creek Falls. The sani can at the TH was clean and stocked with supplies. We arrived back at our vehicles just as the first rain shower started falling at 1:10. Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.

An afternoon loop hike with The Mountaineers. Weather was better than earlier forecasts, no rain and some sun. Hike was under canopy for all but a short bit on the Nike Horse trail — we encountered no horses. Most hikers we passed were wearing face coverings, and the few we encountered who were not we saw only on the old forest road portions of the trails, so no problems passing. The woods were a vibrant Spring green and it was a nice day to get out and enjoy their beauty.

We were promised 3-8 inches and that's what we got! My car was snowed in so I chose something I could walk to and ended up doing about 9 miles at Cougar Mountain, slowly meandering about for most of the day.

I kind of hate how there's an individual entry for each little trail section in some of these parks. I love just wandering around the Issaquah Alps so I end up hitting up a lot of random trails every time I go out... I did my best to pick all the trails I was on today, but basically what I did was start on Bear Ridge and traverse Cougar Mountain, coming out Red Town Trail to check out North Fork  Falls, then re-entering Cougar and taking a slightly different route back the way I came. There was snow the entire way, obviously, but it was so fresh that booting it was fine. Some people were out in snowshoes or even skis, but it's really not necessary when it's this fresh and not that deep. The only thing I regretted was not having my trekking poles (trapped in the trunk of my car under a bunch of snow, lol) because there were some slippery rocks and roots hidden underneath the snow. Overall, nothing too crazy though.

I saw a handful of people, mostly around Red Town & Sky Country trailheads, but mostly I was alone for a lot of the day. Lakemont Blvd was being plowed as I was walking by, but both trailheads I passed were fully snow covered. A few brave cars in each lot, though! It was actively snowing all day and by the time I got home, I was pretty soaked and my hat and gloves were starting to freeze solid. Haha. A fun day, super pretty, and nice to see a familiar place looking unfamiliar!

Silly me, I thought yesterday was the last good day to hike this year but the afternoon turned out to be a great time to be out with my daughter.  These are nice little trails in a beautiful forest setting.  Only saw two people who were on the Sky Country Trail and they wore masks.

Parking lot was mostly full at 10:30. We had a good hike in the mist and encountered one blow down.