After a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, my mind turns to penance. A day of sloth and eating, punctuated by a visit to work left me wanting to get out. It was an amazing sunny day. I was hoping for a hike that would put me in a little bit of snow at the highest point. The snow level, however , had risen quite above 4000 feet and unless I wanted to go further inland I knew I would not easily find snow.
They say there are old hikers, and bold hikers, but no old bold hikers. While this is not entirely true, I find myself erring on the side of caution when it comes to visiting areas I have not been before. I don't feel comfortable going to a place I have never been in the season of rain washouts and snow.
I settled for a familiar place, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. This 25,000 acre park is set between Bellevue and Issaquah, and just 20 minutes from my home when there is no traffic. The trails are well marked and wind all over, It seems you are never far from a trail junction, so folks of all ages and abilities can have a walk in the woods within their comfort level.
I considered the map and chose a feature I had never seen before. It was clear across the park from my parking area so out and back should be a nice healthy burner of calories.
This area supported many mining interests and you can still find open pits and caves. These areas are well marked as toxic and have sturdy fences to keep you at a distance. There is something about the graphic skull and crossbones, plus the toxic lungs of the fellow on the right
I featured this park last February and like then, there is a simple pleasure in our typical mixed woodlands. I am participating in a Flickr group which requires posting a photo every day. Every month we get an assigned color and the photo of the day must feature the target color. This month is "rust". I though it would be a challenging color but being forced to see, I find rust all around.
Must be due to all the rain.
The trails here are covered in Bigleaf Maple leaves.
I selected the route northbound, away from my usual favored trails and paid a visit to the old Nike Anti-Aircraft site. You can read about it here.
http://www.issaquahhistory.org/sites/nikemissiles.htm
There is nothing much left here except the footprint of cement sidewalks. Now a cell tower makes use of the space.
I did find an old relic and when I saw it, had a chuckle as I realized how long it had been since I noticed such a thing. I guess it puts me within reach of "relic" status.
in the trees near the Nike site, the remains of an old telephone pole with the climbing rebar. Remember those? Small irony that it was near the cellphone / microwave tower.
I trucked along enjoying the quiet. Along the way I was reminded of dinner the night before...
Witches BUTTER ( oh the glory of all things cow butter cream cheese )
Tremella mesenterica actually a jelly fungus
And mushrooms of every shape and color.
The stump was my choice for my rust photo of the day.
These lichens caught my eye. I am not sure which ones they are but I think they are in the Cladonia / pixie cup group
Cutting down through Tibbetts Marsh I again remembered that I want to visit this place during the blooming season to see what treasure can be found in this woodland marsh. It was great hearing water running that was not that over topping the plugged gutter outside my window. Creeks cut through this park and oven the trail runs above or over their courses. Makes a pretty sound and one that simply relaxes and keeps you going along.
I finally reach my destination, the "Fantastic Erratic".
Humm you say, a rock
Such a rock; a boulder, a whopper. Many of the hill and mountainsides are littered with these foreign visitors.
Carried here floating or embedded in glaciers, deposited as they retreated. There are people on top of the erratic and a man walking past.
The Erratic is covered in ferns lichens and mosses. Soils have built up from the leaf litter. The ferns reminded me of green beans. OK off the food thoughts
It is easily 15 - 20 feet up to the top from this side. The bare base is colored with lichen.
And if you look closely you can see glacial etch lines where the stone was scoured as it was pushed along.
All though this park there are details to keep my eyes and mind busy. This massive old trunk was easily 75 - 100 feet tall. Filled with massive holes, I am sure it still serves as nesting perching and protection areas for birds and animals of all kinds.
These mushrooms were fresh and pliable. One cluster appeared to be growing from a neat woodpecker hole.
I love this bridge, a cut log and handrails over the tumbling Coal Creek.
Leaves everywhere
Coal Creek Falls are the best of the many waterfalls in this park. One could spend a solid day getting around to every one. As it was my time walking was 4 hours.
By the way, left over green bean casserole makes a great variation of Barbudos. I first had Barbudos in Costa Rica. It was simply grilled green beans mixed into beaten eggs and cooked flat like a pancake. Some recipes have you dipping the greenbeans then frying them in a cluster. No matter, I rewarmed some leftovers and topped them with the leftover egg white from the pecan pie I made.
No amount of walking is likely to atone for that pecan pie.
But oh, both walk and pie were mighty nice.
