Turkey Trot

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.

Happy Earth Day

Wise words from John Muir (21 April 1838 – 24 December 1914)
Naturalist, writer, adventurer, advocate and founder of the Sierra Club.

Happy Birthday



"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world"

Writing is like the life of a glacier; one eternal grind."

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world."

"As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can"."

Everybody needs beauty...

"Going to the mountains is going home."

"Anyhow we never know where we must go, nor what guides we are to get---people,storms, guardian angels, or sheep...."

Bear Creek Wild Area

The last two weekends I have not wanted to stray too far afield as my car is ailing. I paid visits to Cougar Mountain Wildland Regional Park/ Bear Creek Wild Area. It is close to home and popular with hikers runners and horse riders. This trough is fed by a nearby stream and signed for horses and dogs use.

I love this park as it has almost 35 miles of trails in its 3000+ acres. Major trails are well used but a lot of the smaller trails offer solitude.

This mountain was home to many of the early coal mines which flourished then quickly died out. You can still find evidence of mining activity. All over the complex there are caved in mine shafts which require some interesting signs. Notice the lower sign the man on the right actually has lungs and an airway included in the illustration.

There are random bits of machinery left behind including this interesting pipe made from a log bound with wire.

One meadow is being restored and it is known that this was the neighborhood baseball diamond. It is still possible to see shaft entrances, old rails and heavy equipment.

A majority of the area however is simply woodlands criss-crossed by creeks and studded with waterfalls. They are not big but their appear as if out of nowhere. You can hear them as you draw near and most have a nice viewing platform or handy bridge.


Far Country falls tumbles over a rock edge and has a nice broad face. I wish my photos from that vantage had turned out.

Up from Far Country there is a view away to the west. That is the "far country" and now the view is dominated by the homes of Bellevue. I imagine on a rare , very clear day one could see the Olympic Mountains from here. Now it is just smoggy haze.

Doughty Falls crashes over a rock face and unfortunately today it was not running large.

The creek has really carved itself a deep seat.

Up above there is a nice little platform bridge made from sliced log. I love these as they have you so close to the water.

There are a lot of rock and boulder faces which remain from the glacial era. Here one need not go around two large boulders, the trail just goes between them.

While most of the woodland here is the typical mixed conifer with Douglas Fir and Hemlock dominating, every once in a while you come across a grove of pure Red Alder. This is not a feature I see a lot in the regional forests.

Bear Creek Falls are the showpiece and you earn the view in a hefty hike up.

Many of the trails here can offer a great workout and I managed 7 miles in three hours today. Not so steep and punishing as hikes in the higher Cascades, but a great walk with some good slope thrown in.

I am looking forward to visiting later in the Spring. There are several areas of marshes and I would love to see what kind of orchids might lurk here.

Twin Falls

I could not believe my luck this morning. I slept in to an unusual 700 and that instantly became 600 when I changed back the clock. By the time it was light outside I could see that the sky overhead was pretty clear. A nice change of pace from the last 24 hours of rain.


I decided Saturday night that I would visit someplace with a waterfall, since the heavy rains guarantee a good show. Twin Falls is just east of North Bend, about 35 miles east of Seattle. It is always a good bet that the falls will be running well. Here the area receives more than ninety inches of rain each year. That is double the amount officially recorded for Seattle. The South Fork of the Snoqualmie River forms the southern border of Olallie State Park and this long thin park parallels I-90 for many miles. The falls form just after the river crosses under the freeway on its journey from the north.







This is a pretty easy trail to reach and to walk. Because it has a spectacular destination in the falls, it was well populated by families. I was impressed by the number of children under the age of five trooping along. There is a lot of things to keep their interest and plenty of benches for resting. It is even possible to get down to the river and enjoy some rock throwing.

Everything was soggy and dripping. Moss was everywhere including covering the limbs of most of the trees in rain forest fashion. Mushrooms are still making their appearances.

This hillside of stone was covered in mosses and Maidenhair fern. Maidenhair is uncommon and always a pretty find.

The climb begins in earnest about one mile in and so you could hear the roar of water. Right at that spot a warning sign is obviously placed to keep the curious on track and way from the slippery rock edges.

In places the hillside gave way to runoff and trickling water organizes into small cascades.

Pretty soon there are many of them and the roar is getting louder. You enter an elevated walkway to cross over the river to see the first falls.

It is impossible to capture the height of the falls and the narrowness of the canyon. I estimate the main fall is about 50 feet and several smaller one disappear in the background.

I thought this rock face looked like an old ogre having a drink. :-D

Turning the other direction you see downstream. The edge of the river shows where the second falls start.

And here is the second falls from the observation platform below.

It is impossible to capture the whole 150 foot height plus the plunge pool. It is a dazzling beauty.

Walking back along the river I noticed this event in the making. The tree root have been exposed by a series of water events. It lookslike one good high water flood will send the tree toppling into the river.

The dilemma is that the upper fork of this tree holds up a pretty good leaner. That leaning tree juts out from the trails edge. I predict if the support goes the other tree will follow and undermine a bit of the trail edge. We will see!

This was a nice little walk, a quick journey between the rainfall. We are lucky here in King County to have a bounty of nearby hikes that can take us into these wonderful areas in a short amount of time. You can often hear I-90 roaring above you. That sound trades off with the running of the river. I imagine, in Spring, the singing birds add to the mix. This day I only saw one bird, a Pacific Wren (Winter Wren).

Another bonus in these hikes near to home along the I-90 corridor is the easy access to places for mid-day snackery like Macky Dim Sum in Issaquah. A plate of soup dumplings hits the spot.