I have been out of action recently and was itching to get out and explore. This was my chance. I chose Cougar Mtn as a destination and started at the lower Licorice Fern Trailhead and went on an exploratory journey. By the time I was done I not only experienced the wonderfully wet, mossy and green Licorice Fern trail, but visited three waterfalls, the Wildside trail, and Wilderness Peak.
I was quite surprised to find the trail conditions to be fine everywhere I went. There was very little water or mud despite the recent rains. It is a testament to all the hard work the maintenance crews put in. There were not many people out, either, even though the weather was fine...a bit of sun and slightly cool. Perfect for hiking. Most of the leaves are down now, and the ground is covered. Moss and ferns have been reinvigorated by the wet weather and are a perfect green. Some mushrooms were out, but not as prevalent as one might expect.
The lower Licorice Fern trailhead is not much, just a wide spot on the shoulder of the road with a few small signs that are easy to overlook. There are no facilities at the trailhead. The lower trail starts heading downward until it reaches a simple bridge over the stream. From there it climbs and traverses the opposite slope at varying heights above the stream. The trail is anything but straight...having many twists and turns and up and downs, including 187 stair steps (yes, I counted on the way back). I know that type of trail is not everyone's cup of tea, but I find that interesting.
The trail crosses a road and continues up to the main trail area, where it joins with Indian Trail. I took that to Far Country Falls, a collection of dripping rocks and small rivulets that tumbles down into a gully. From there I took a side trip through the Wildside Trail until I came back to the main and turned uphill on Quarry Trail. There is a spur that goes down to Coal Creek Falls which is all downhill to the falls and uphill on the return. The water flow has returned to the stream and the falls looked good. This was probably the most popular spot that I saw all day. Returning to the Quarry Trail I turned uphill and followed it all the way to Shy Bear Pass, then took the trail up to Wilderness Peak.
This is where I began to notice that the distance to the peak was NOT what the signs told you, so I did some GPS measurements on the way down. Instead of .4 miles from sign at Shy Bear Pass it was closer to .9 miles each way. There were other instances, as well, usually underselling the distance. It is a lesson I will remember.
From Shy Bear Pass I took the Longview Peak trail and continued on Deceiver trail to Doughty Falls, returning to Shy Bear trail to Far Country trail, Indian Trail and finally back out Licorice Fern trail. Total for the day was 12.5 miles and 2000 feet of gain.
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