Wilderness Peak Loop, Tibbett's Marsh, Shy Bear, Fred's Railroad, Shangri La & Klondike Swamp — Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004

Issaquah Alps > Cougar Mountain

The trails on Cougar Mt. continue to be amazingly dry and mud free. The trails near the former “swamp” or lake are normally muddy once the rainy season starts, but on Sunday they remained very dry and easy to walk. There is some mud on the Shangri La trail but nothing compared to the normal amount during winter. The fall colors are in full swing and trees in the park are dropping their leaves. There were lots of folks on all of the trails so not much solitude. The trip up the Klondike Swamp trail was a real treat with sunlight beaming on an arch of Burch trees with gold and green leaves. This trip takes about 2 hours and is 5 to 6 miles in length. The top of Wilderness Peak has a summit register and some trails that may lead down to the Wilderness Cliffs trail. I went down one of these for a short time and it did not look like a game trail. This may be worth exploration the next time I am on this trail.