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Cougar Mountain Hike Saturday 6/14


GrnXnham

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After hiking/caching Squak Mountain last weekend, we decided to hike some of Cougar Mountain between Renton and Issaquah next weekend. We will be meeting at the Wilderness Creek Trailhead at 9:30AM

 

N 47° 30.612 W 122° 05.236

 

We were hoping to get a larger group together for this hike. So if anyone wants to do some caches in the woods and get a little exercise let us know!

 

It looks like it will be a moderate hike of about 7 miles with 9 caches along the way. Elevation change is about 1500 feet.

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After hiking/caching Squak Mountain last weekend, we decided to hike some of Cougar Mountain between Renton and Issaquah next weekend. We will be meeting at the Wilderness Creek Trailhead at 9:30AM

 

N 47° 30.612 W 122° 05.236

 

We were hoping to get a larger group together for this hike. So if anyone wants to do some caches in the woods and get a little exercise let us know!

 

It looks like it will be a moderate hike of about 7 miles with 9 caches along the way. Elevation change is about 1500 feet.

 

I'm planning to be up there on Saturday myself, but I'm hitting a milestone at the Coals of Newcastle cache, near Red Town. The Wilderness Creek area is a pretty steep climb, and I prefer the Red Town area myself, since that's where most of the history is.

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After hiking/caching Squak Mountain last weekend, we decided to hike some of Cougar Mountain between Renton and Issaquah next weekend. We will be meeting at the Wilderness Creek Trailhead at 9:30AM

 

N 47° 30.612 W 122° 05.236

 

We were hoping to get a larger group together for this hike. So if anyone wants to do some caches in the woods and get a little exercise let us know!

 

It looks like it will be a moderate hike of about 7 miles with 9 caches along the way. Elevation change is about 1500 feet.

 

I'm planning to be up there on Saturday myself, but I'm hitting a milestone at the Coals of Newcastle cache, near Red Town. The Wilderness Creek area is a pretty steep climb, and I prefer the Red Town area myself, since that's where most of the history is.

 

We'll eventually get all of the caches in the park and it looks like there is more history around the Red Town Trailhead but more scenic views near the Wilderness Creek Trailhead. We'll probably make three trips to get all the caches in this park starting at each of the three main trailheads.

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I prefer the Red Town area myself, since that's where most of the history is.

Plus, you can see the great results of the May 31 Cougar Mountain CITO, which is right next to Red Town parking. :o

 

Before: blackberry berm by picnic area

db5c447b-c444-4ee5-baad-35ecb36bdc81.jpg

 

After: clearing the hillside and planting native flora

9011749f-135e-41b7-b392-4822deb8fa7f.jpg

 

We also removed a humongous pile of rocks that had been hidden under the blackberries!

a6f3f15c-98fa-4b3f-9af8-857c6e255e7a.jpg

Edited by hydnsek
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After hiking/caching Squak Mountain last weekend, we decided to hike some of Cougar Mountain between Renton and Issaquah next weekend. We will be meeting at the Wilderness Creek Trailhead at 9:30AM

 

N 47° 30.612 W 122° 05.236

 

We were hoping to get a larger group together for this hike. So if anyone wants to do some caches in the woods and get a little exercise let us know!

 

It looks like it will be a moderate hike of about 7 miles with 9 caches along the way. Elevation change is about 1500 feet.

 

I'm planning to be up there on Saturday myself, but I'm hitting a milestone at the Coals of Newcastle cache, near Red Town. The Wilderness Creek area is a pretty steep climb, and I prefer the Red Town area myself, since that's where most of the history is.

 

We'll eventually get all of the caches in the park and it looks like there is more history around the Red Town Trailhead but more scenic views near the Wilderness Creek Trailhead. We'll probably make three trips to get all the caches in this park starting at each of the three main trailheads.

 

There really isn't that many view points. All you can really see are trees. What caches are you planning to find?

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No viewpoints? The map I got off the internet shows a couple of viewpoints along the Wilderness Cliffs trail and the Long View Peak trail. They aren't there? How about Doughty Falls? Can you view that?

 

I've got nine caches picked out between the parking lot and the end of the Deceiver Trail-- making a loop going from Wilderness Creek trail to Deceiver to Shy Bear to Wilderness Peak to Wilderness Cliffs.

 

Caches:

 

Hunk O Junk

Skunk Cabbage

Doughty Falls

Long View Peak

Shy Bear Pass

Black Cat Cache

Wilderness Peak

Wilderness Creek Rest Area

Texas Loosey

 

We haven't been to this park before but we aren't looking for the easiest hike. We want at least a little bit of a workout. It keeps us from getting FAT! :lol:

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No viewpoints? The map I got off the internet shows a couple of viewpoints along the Wilderness Cliffs trail and the Long View Peak trail. They aren't there? How about Doughty Falls? Can you view that?

 

I've got nine caches picked out between the parking lot and the end of the Deceiver Trail-- making a loop going from Wilderness Creek trail to Deceiver to Shy Bear to Wilderness Peak to Wilderness Cliffs.

 

Caches:

 

Hunk O Junk

Skunk Cabbage

Doughty Falls

Long View Peak

Shy Bear Pass

Black Cat Cache

Wilderness Peak

Wilderness Creek Rest Area

Texas Loosey

 

We haven't been to this park before but we aren't looking for the easiest hike. We want at least a little bit of a workout. It keeps us from getting FAT! :lol:

 

I've either found or hidden all the caches at Cougar, plus I'm a park volunteer, so I can help ya here. There are some nice viewpoints, although Dwoodford is correct, a few vistas (like Far Country Lookout) are starting to get lost in the trees. Of your list, Long View Peak has the best view, assuming by that you mean vista. It is quite nice. Wilderness Peak doesn't have a view, and the other caches on your list are all lovely areas, but no vistas. The other two caches with really great vistas are De Leo Wall and SG #55, which aren't on your initial itinerary. Yes, you can see Doughty Falls, just like the picture on the cache page, but there's no vista.

 

I looked at your route, and it makes good sense, esp. if you are planning multiple hikes to get all the caches in the park. To do that, you do have to do the four Wilderness area caches (Black Cat, Texas Loosey, Wilderness Creek Rest Area, Wilderness Peak). And the Wilderness Creek Trail is lovely, if steep. Add Shy Bear Pass to the four mentioned, and you have a nice loop of five caches, or make a longer loop and add the other four you mention (Long View Peak, Doughty Falls, Skunk Cabbage, Hunk o' Junk).

 

I suspect David and I were thinking that, for a first visit to Cougar, Wilderness Creek is not quite the introduction to Cougar that the trailheads at Red Town (especially), Sky Country, or Anti-Aircraft Peak are. You could get quite a workout starting from any of those, and more caches to boot.

 

For anyone who's interested, here's a loop of 6-8 miles, with some elevation change (less than Wilderness), that will get you 12+ caches, depending on route (you can make it longer or shorter). It showcases some of the best areas of the park, both scenic and historic (as the cache pages indicate).

 

Start at Red Town trailhead, and do a roughly counter-clockwise loop on (primarily) the Red Town, Indian, Far Country, Shy Bear, Deceiver, Long View, Fred's Railroad, and Cave Hole trails. Along this route, you can pick up 13 caches (in order): Coals of Newcastle, Red Town Site, The Old Ballfield, Far Country Falls, Far Country Lookout, Hunk o' Junk, Doughty Falls, Long View Peak, Shy Bear Pass, Is That a Treehouse, Owl's Nest, The Fire Down Below, and My Best Cache by a Dam Site. With a couple of side trips, you can also get Skunk Cabbage and 48 Hours (or more with more side trips). When you get back, walk across the road from Red Town parking, and do the short, flattish walk to get North Creek Falls, Turntable, and Twisted Bridge - arguably the most scenic/historic half mile in the park. That's 18 caches!

 

On another trip, you can park at Anti-Aircraft trailhead and knock off 11 caches in the NE part of the park: Radar Park, SG #55 - View Point - WOW (which does have a nice vista), Costume Cache, Davey's Great Gig in the Sky, Gnat Fest II, Jerry's Duck Pond, Goode's Corner Cache, Ode to Lamprizzle, The 39 Steps, Shangri La DVD Exchange, and optionally, The One Less Traveled (outside the park but on a connecting trail).

 

Then, from the minor western trailhead at Summit Junction, you can do a short hike to get De Leo Wall and Balance Beam.

 

This leaves only the four Wilderness area caches mentioned earlier, and the Big Sky Cache at Big Sky trailhead, which could be a quick detour on another hike (or a drive-by) if you don't start a hike from there. This is actually the nicest trailhead area, and you could alternatively use it to do the other loops mentioned, as it's midway on the mountain, in between the trailheads at Red Town (lower) and Anti-Aircraft Peak (higher). Wilderness Creek is the lowest trailhead, and the only one on the south side of the park.

 

Of course, you can mix and match all of these caching routes, depending on trailhead and desired distance. If I counted right, that's 36 caches across the hikes, all in some of King County's loveliest "urban wilderness."

 

I was gonna link all those caches, but it's easier to just link the Caching Cougar Mountain bookmark. :lol:

 

Whatever route you choose, you'll have a wonderful hike! :huh:

Edited by hydnsek
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One thing about doing Wilderness Creek first, you get the hard part over! However, it's not like the other areas are flat. When I was at Wilderness Creek during Memorial Day weekend, I saw only one place where you could see much of a view, along the Wilderness Cliffs trail though I only went up to Wilderness Peak.

Edited by Dwoodford
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I appreciate all the help from people who know the area well. We plan to find all the caches in the park throughout this summer by doing 3 or 4 trips.

 

For this Summer, we plan to do at least one good hike per weekend and say "NO" to skirt-lifters!

 

After we conquer Cougar Mountain, we will move on to Tiger Mountain and Taylor Mountain. Did Squak last weekend. It's part of our weight maintenance program. We've lost 120 lbs between the two of us and we plan to keep it off.

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I appreciate all the help from people who know the area well. We plan to find all the caches in the park throughout this summer by doing 3 or 4 trips.

 

For this Summer, we plan to do at least one good hike per weekend and say "NO" to skirt-lifters!

 

After we conquer Cougar Mountain, we will move on to Tiger Mountain and Taylor Mountain. Did Squak last weekend. It's part of our weight maintenance program. We've lost 120 lbs between the two of us and we plan to keep it off.

Yer quite welcome (you too, Wrastro), and since I have yet to tackle much of Tiger or (any of) Taylor, I might be interested in joining you when you start knocking those off.

Edited by hydnsek
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