Coal Creek Falls, Shy Bear — Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2003

Issaquah Alps > Cougar Mountain

The Cougar Mtn Trail from the Red Town trailhead is a perfect after work stroll. The refurbished meadow on the old early 1900s baseball field on the site of what was once an outlying suburb of the coal mining community of Newcastle offers a touching contemplation of change and regeneration. Every trail intersection is clearly marked and maps are able to be picked up at the trailhead. Excluding the occasional evidence of horses the trail itself could not be in better condition - one could almost hike it in street shoes. We had the thrill of being able to listen hard to a large animal ( bear, deer?) just past the Shy Bear swamp without catching sight of it. After harvesting some angel wing mushrooms from a fallen log ( and vowing to return for a serious mushroom hunt in the fall) we made our to the Coal Creek Falls and took a scramble provided with conveniently placed handholds of tree roots to a perch overlooking it. From there the whisper of water and a glance of an Anna's Hummingbird, quicker than a bee. Absolutely no one else was around. If there were bugs we didn't notice them.