West Tibbett's Creek Trail (#COUGAR-E10) — Saturday, Oct. 13, 2001

Issaquah Alps

You wont find this trail in any updated hiking book because it doesn't officially exist. The decision makers designated this area a wildlife migration zone (I hope they remembered to tell the animals). This easy 3-4 mile loop is one of the wildest and most lonesome hikes on Cougar mountain. The unmarked trailhead is on the west side of SR 900, 0.9 miles south of Newport Way just southwest of the city of Issaquah. The parking area only holds 2 cars but it's usually empty. The trail enters forest and encounters a split within 200 feet. The right fork heads up the West Tibbetts gorge. The left fork will be the return leg along the Bear Ridge trail. Heading up into the West Tibbetts gorge you find your self quickly emersed in a lovely riparian habitat. The stream is crossed on slippery rocks at about 1/3 mile. Shortly thereafter views of a massive housing development on the north rim of the canyon are encountered. This development called Talus will eventually have a whopping 1750 homes and condos when completed in 5-10 years. This monster development will eventually almost double the current population of central Issaquah. The good thing about this development is that it allowed for the preservation of almost 400 acres of wildland, part of which is traversed by this trail. As you leave the development views behind the trail once again becomes emersed in the wilds. Eventually West Tibbetts creek is again crossed and permanently protected lands make up the remainder of the trail terrain. About 1/4 mile from the stream crossing another intersection is reached. Going left would shorten the loop by intersecting the Bear Ridge trail. Instead head to the right on the continuation of the West Tibbetts trail. West Tibbetts creek is crossed for a third time in an area of interestingly eroded soft bedrock. The trail then switchbacks up to an intersection with the Bear Ridge trail. Turn left here and go a flat 1/4 mile before descending down to The Fantastic Erratic. This huge glacial erratic is a relic from the last ice age. It was carried to Cougar mountain from Canada by the Cordilleran ice sheet about 12,000 years ago. From the erratic it's about 1 mile downhill to the trailhead. The trail is in excellent condition except for a few blowdowns. I cleared out most of the smaller obstructions.