Started out around 1300, headed up the wilderness creek trail up to the shy bear trail headed down to doughty falls, proceeded along the Deceiver trail. At this point my two four-legged companions were finally showing signs of exhaustion. Headed around to the Shy Bear trail, finally descending along the Wilderness Cliffs trail to the trailhead. Note: The Wildnerness Cliffs trail is quickly eroding on the upper portions. One minor blowdown on the trail shortly after the creek crossing by the trailhead.

Weather is always a factor in winter hiking, but we were lucky this day, hitting a break between storms. We started out from the tiny parking lot for Wilderness Creek, from Highway 900. The trail gains elevation quickly, passing through primarily alder forest, with patches of hemlock, cedar and fir. There is an intersection with Wilderness Cliffs trail after about 1/2 mile, then the trail climbs up to Shy Bear Pass and another major trail junction. We headed to Longview Peak and were rewarded to a view over towards Sea-Tac and Puget Sound. We could hear an owl sounding off nearby. Next, we hiked along Deceiver Ridge to Doughty Falls. We had to pick up bits and pieces of windfall. The previous Sunday, there had been a strong windstorm. Several small trees and lots of branches covered parts of the trails. We looped around back to Fred's Railroad and then towards the Claypit. Fred's RR crosses the headwaters of Coal Creek. The area is a bit swampy in places and thick with salmonberry, cottonwood and alder. Claypit Road was a heavy use truck road and is open to foot and horse travel. I don't recommend climbing around in the Claypit because it just that... your boots sink into a gooey mess inches deep. Next we headed to the Mine Shaft, which a barricaded hole, very dark and deep, dripping with water, where we had lunch. A light fog had settled in and it was a little chilly. After lunch, we cruised pass the Duck pond on East Fork trail returning back to Fred's and Shy Bear Pass. Then we completed our loop by visiting Wilderness Peak (the highest point on Cougar, 1595 feet) and dropping down the Wilderness Cliffs trail. For such a close-in area, there is really quite a feel of ""wilderness"" even though most of the trip is done in formerly logged over areas. Still, we did not meet too many people except during the return to the cars. Little rain. Not bad for a winter hike. By the way, there was a lot of mud in places, so wear good boots in this area. I had on gaiters, some of the other people had mud up to their knees. There was a little crunchy old snow on Wilderness Peak.

On this rainy Sunday we did about an 8 mile loop starting at the Wilderness Creek Trailhead and going up the Wilderness Creek trail, then west on the Long View Peak Trail and the Deceiver Trail, then back east on the Shy Bear Trail, Wilderness Peak Trail, and south on the Wilderness Cliffs Trail. All were in very good condition with evidence of recent trail maintenance. There were some trees to step over, but nothing difficult. This was a beautiful hike in very nice forest, and saw only two others all day. We had never hiked on Cougar Mtn before, and will be back many more times! Good maps are available at the trailhead.

Tried to do what looked to be a reasonable loop backpack trip from July 24-26 in Norse Peak Wilderness. Started at Crystal, went up Trail 1156 to Bullion Basin, connected to the PCT north to the cutoff to Echo Lake, arriving at the lake for the first night. Little to no water along the PCT for lengthy stretches. Planned to make a loop back from Echo Lake to Corral Pass via Trail 1176, then take Trail 1188 back around the headwaters of the Greenwater River to the PCT. When I got to Corral Pass, signage indicated a Trail 1185 ""Mt. Rainier View Trail."" This was not on the map, but had to be the correct trail I needed. When I reached the crest, a signless signpost was located at a junction which had to be Trail 1188. I followed this down to a basin beneath Castle Mountain, only to find that Trail 1188 must have been abandoned several years ago and was impossible to find and follow after reaching the basin. At this point, it was impossible to backtrack 23 miles back the way I'd come, so I attempted a cross-country journey up the steep knoll from the basin, over Castle Mountain, to connect back to the PCT. This damn near killed me! Do not try this...it was extremely steep, cliffy, rocky, brushy, with zero water in the intense heat. Besides dehydration, exhaustion, and heat stroke, I could easily have gotten seriously hurt in several falls on slippery slopes. I had to eventually climb down a waterfall chute on the backside of Castle Mountain to reach water at the junction of Goat Creek and the drainage from Reese Lake. I was totally exhausted and unsure if I'd even be able to climb out of the steep basin the next day to connect back to a trail. I was able to, but this was clearly the most demanding journey I've done, much more a survival drill than an enjoyable trip. So, despite what shows on both Green Trails and USFS maps as an in-place Trail 1188, it is not there. It should be posted as such so that others who expect to use this trail as part of their loop do not run into the same dangerous problems I did.

The trail condition is excellent as usual. The real reason I am reporting on this trail is to discuss solitude. The trails of cougar mtn are a great place to get away from the crowds during the summer months, especially on an overcast day. Dont expect lakes or views however - the forest is the star of the show here.