Cougar Mountain Regional Wilderness
Issaquah, Washington
Trail Hiked: Cave Hole, Coal Creek Falls, Quarry, and Fred's Railroad Loop
Distance Hiked: 3.35 miles
Elevation Gain:413 ft.
Duration: 1h 2m
This was barely a notable hike in terms of statistics or time spent on the trail. The fact that I filmed it at all would be bordering on egregious if not for what it meant to me. But also, to be fair, had I stayed on that trail any longer, darkness would've taken over, and I'd rather not have met the creatures who were more emboldened by the lack of visibility. It wasn't about that.
I've hiked this mountain before, both by accident and on purpose, both of which I've written about. I've done it from harder positions by starting out at the bottom, I've done it for longer by trying to get as many verified complete badges as possible, and I've done it when it's swarming with other hikers on a dewy Saturday morning after my trip to revisit the Melmont ghost town failed due to closed trails. It wasn't about that either.
It wasn't even the first location I visited that day. Based purely on distance, it shouldn't have been that difficult to get in multiple hikes at sentimental locations, but this is Northwestern Washington, so a reasonable half hour drive in most places becomes several hours of navigating back roads versus doing an impression of a used car shop run by Joey Jeremiah and his fantastic fedora. Hey, alliteration!
Earlier in the day, I headed up to Sedro-Woolley for the Northern State Rec Area, and along the way, picked up some Adventure Labs in Bellingham and Burlington, because this day just had a fetish for alliterative commonalities or something. That had the unfortunate effect of making the return trip to the metro near impossible though, as timing worked out in just the perfect way to be substantially horrendous. Not just normal "hey, it's Seattle and you spent an hour trying to get to the hotel five minutes away from SeaTac and there were two accidents and having streets that make sense would be too convenient" horrendous because, well... that was the previous night. Rather, for the time spent inside the car, states or time zones should've changed because, "It's beginning to look a lot like Fuck This, everywhere you look..." Then also, "hey, why should spots on AllTrails be listed with, you know, actual parking spots. That's just silly. Why not the middle of a neighborhood near people who look like they'd join an HOA for the clout?"
By the time I arrived, the sun was already setting, as the season waned more than I expected after spending a majority of the summer on the trail. Challenge accepted. An hour before nautical twilight, a 3-mile trail? Les dew eet.
I nearly jogged on the trail to get it done in time (by accident, ironically enough, those who intentionally run on trails with jutting rocks and ledges, you the real ones.) But just to leave bootprints on this specific mountain felt redeeming in a way I can't quite articulate, despite this flawed yet hopefully charming attempt.
No regrets.
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