This is a great time of year to hike in the Issaquah Alps. The trees have their maximum fall color and enough leaves have fallen that the ground is covered with a bright yellow blanket. This is one of the hikes that I like to do when I'm on call for work because its close to my home and has good cell phone coverage. On the way up we caught up with a group of about 20 Chinese people who were obviously not accustom to hiking. The foot wear was somewhat comical with high heal tennis shoes and black leather dress shoes in the mix. Unfortunately they were spectacularly loud. It was almost as if the older males were having a screaming match to see who was the dominant alpha male. It was very unpleasant. My wife and I passed them (which required some pushing through when they did not respond to multiple "excuse me's"). At that point we practically ran to get away from all the noise and commotion. When we got to the top we met a very nice man named Nick who was responsible for placing the bench(dedicated to his parents) at the peak. Unfortunately we lingered too long because the Chinese group noisily showed up as we were decending. To get away again we changed our route and found a bootleg trail that heads off of the Wilderness Creek trail to the north. It takes off just a few dozen feet from the spur trail that goes to the peak. This very nice bootleg trail eventually comes out to the Eastside trail. We made our way back to the Wilderness Creek trail via Fred's Railroad. The journey down the Wilderness Cliffs trail was now quiet and peaceful Suggestion to folks new to hiking: Please try to speak quietly and enjoy the natural scenery.

As others have noted, the WTA directions are bad - they lead you to a private drive. Don't turn on 185th. When coming down from I-90, the parking lot is on the right for Wilderness Peak with room for maybe a dozen cars (you'll see it before you get to 185th). The hike itself is essentially composed of a series of semi-steep switchbacks, which (at least for a relatively inexperienced hiker) might prove tiring. When we went, the trail was in fairly good condition, albeit muddy in places and with a downed tree or two crossing the path. There were occasionally some red or yellow autumn leaves, but for the most part the trail was clustered with bright green ferns, mossy trees, and the occasional boulder. There are a couple of areas that seem designed to be look-out areas, but the trees obstruct the view. At the end of the Gombu trail, the 0.1 miles to Wilderness Peak seems inviting, but the name is misleading: it's essentially a small clearing with a bench and still no views. There's not a lot of variation in the surroundings, so it may not the most glamorous hike. Still, there's enough to be awed by on the heavily-forested path, especially when the sun streaks through the treetops and highlights areas of greenery. For a spur-of-the-moment afternoon hike close to the city, it's plenty satisfying.

Nice day hike

This was a short loop trip to Wilderness Peak. It is basically a level walk with a 600 foot elevation gain at the end to the "peak". Other than a semi-steep ascent of 0.5 miles or so at the end it is pleasant and the woods are cool and shaded making this a nice walk on those last to summer days where heat can be a factor. My phone app noted a 4.5 mile RT with 600 feet of elevation gain/loss from the Sky Country trail head. Other than the woods there is a large beaver dam on Clay Pit road at a Coal Creek crossing. The dam is worth seeing. There is a note on the East Fork Trail (off Fred's Railroad) of a protective owl that has attacked hikers on this trail. I did not see the bird but did see plenty of warnings.

A relatively early start on what promised to be a very warm day. Off I-90 at Exit 15 and south three miles to reach the trailhead. A few minutes before 7 AM we headed up the Whittaker Trail for a half-mile, switched to the Gombu Trail up Wilderness Peak (no view,) then descended the upper leg of the Whittaker Trail as far as Shy Bear Pass. We continued west on the Shy Bear Trail, then looped back via the Deceiver Trail and Long View Peak Trails to reconnect with the Whittaker Trail and head back to our trailhead. This was our first Cougar Mtn hike since Feb 8 when we hiked this same loop. My friend Marin, then just visiting, now relocated back to Seattle after three-plus years in New Mexico. The trails are much drier than in February with only a few moist spots. The footing was good, and there are no new blowdowns. Most small streams are dry, or are reduced to just a trickle. Doughty Falls, flowing in February, now shows just a hint of moisture on the rock face. The marshy areas that are crossed by catwalks along the Shy Bear and Whittaker Trails no longer have standing water, but they do show a lot of mud below the catwalks. The deciduous trees all are leafed out, and wildflowers are limited to an occasional late bloom of avens, miner's lettuce, bleeding heart, and weedy Robert's geranium. As the morning warmed up a lot of small bugs appeared in the air, but they apparently were not the biting variety. We saw a couple of squirrels and heard an occasional jay or crow, but saw no large critters. We encountered about six other hikers for an uncrowded day on the trails.