Hiking at Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park

Mike only had to ask us once. "Hey, do you guys want to get out on your own today?"

That's a "yes." :)

Since today looks like it's going to be the only sunny day we'll have in the 10-day forecast, Dawn and I knew we'd have to do something outdoors. I'm still figuring out the area, so I was a little stumped.

And then I found the website for Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. I typed it into the GPS and we were off! Cougar Mountain is a 25,000-acre park that is, believe it or not, just minutes from our house! There are lots of trails with great little names like Shy Bear Trail, Coal Creek Falls Trail, Clay Pit Road, Licorice Fern Trail, and Klondike Swamp Trail. Dawn and I hiked Old Man's Trail, Coyote Creek Trail, and Radio Peak Trail...about 2.5 to 3 miles in all. 

We felt great and had planned to hike farther, but we turned around and headed back for the car when we started to get some light frozen precip. Sleet? Or tiny hail? We really weren't dressed for cold temps, and started making jokes about the headlines we'd make: "Two girls, ill-dressed for winter weather, lost on Cougar Mountain with only 16 ounces of water and two cheesesticks between them."

You're reading this blog post, so you know how the story ended. :)

Lots of moss-covered deciduous trees, serpentine trails,
giant ferns, and tall evergreens.

Dawn trailblazes ahead. Great picture.

We had steady uphill climbs. Nothing too strenuous.
Mike and I will have to come back with the kids; they could
totally do these trails.

Since we've gotten so much rain over the last 48 hours,
there were lots of mucky spots in the trail. Action shot!

We sprinted a few of the hills, just to make our hike a bit
more of a workout.

Workout? What workout? Well, whatever calories we burned, we quickly
gained right back with a trip to the Issaquah Brewhouse. We split the four
sampler glasses. We chose a cider, an IPA, a pale ale, and a winter brew.

Sipping hard cider. Mmm.

Dawn discovers she likes IPA.

About an hour later, we're back home and ready to relax. The boys hopped in
the hot tub with us and Mike snapped this pic from the balcony above.