I haven't seen any mention of this in prior reports so I guess I will break the news...the new trail on the upper part of Wilderness Peak is open.   But part of the old trail is still open.  Read on for the details.

Our buddy Jeno could not join us this morning so it was just Steve and Chris meeting at the small parking lot at 6:00 AM.  There was one car there ahead of us which was still there when we got back but we never saw that person.  The trail is in good shape and the creeks and streams were full and flowing.  Chris and I decided to go up to the summit via the Gombu Cliffs trail this morning.  We had fun looking at all the various lights over on Squak Mt. as we ascended the switchbacks trying to determine if they were from cars, houses, humans or what.

Shortly after you pass the pond/swamp up there you come to the new trail.  You can take a left and head down but we took a right and headed up.  The trail makes a long, lazy loop to the south/southeast before turning back to the north and ending up at the Wilderness Peak summit and memorial bench.   We took a apple break there before starting back down via the Whittaker trail.  This is where it was interesting and somewhat surprising.   The Whittaker trail to Shy Bear Pass is still intact and a lot of work has been done with water channels and drainage bars cleared or new ones put in.  We could see the new trail as it came close to the old trail a few times and people have been cutting over from one to the other and making trails between them.

About 20 yards before (the direction we were going) the Shy Bear pass intersection the new trail connects with the old trail.   We were surprised as we thought the old trail which is rough in spots would have been closed but that's not the case.   So if you're coming up the Whittaker trail right past Shy Bear Pass you can currently take either the new trail or old trail to the Wilderness Peak summit.   If someone knows if there are plans to close the old trail please post them in the comments.

Chris and I continued our journey down running into one runner and one hiker with his dog.  We got back to the parking lot a little before 8:00 AM to find 7 cars there counting ours including a late model Corvette.  I told Chris I've seen lots of cars at trailheads over my hiking career but never a Vette.  I guess there's a first time for everything.

Stay safe everyone.  See you on the trail.

SR  

This is a fun forest walk with a workout! I brought my dog to practice his trail etiquette and manners before we go into backpacking season. The parking area is small, but there were still spots at 12pm on a Sunday.

This was a bit more of a 'hike' than we expected, but it was really nice! We ended up walking a bit more than four miles total. The parking lot was full when we got there at around 10am, but were lucky to catch someone as they were leaving. When we got back to our car, there were several cars parked out by the street below the lot. There isn't a view at the peak but it was fun going up there anyway.

We had the genius idea to hike on a day with record rainfall!

We still had a nice time though was rather soggy. We added the shy bear + deceiver trails loop to make it ~7 miles. By the last mile I was dreaming of the seat warmers and a steaming coffee and doughnut.

Fabulous hike otherwise! Puddles were beginning to accumulate but the trail wasn’t obstructively muddy. Well-maintained to shoutout to the crews doing the work.

Only saw two other folks running the trail (definitely a good one for trail running).

Saw juncos, thrushes, robins, and dougie squirrels. Think we heard a raven but not sure.

I spent the first hour of the morning sulking about the weather, then forced myself off the couch to get out there anyways. I’m glad I did! The rain made everything look even more lush and beautiful. This is such a convenient lowland hike close to Seattle while we are waiting on the mountains to thaw out.