I set off to finish Cougar Mountain, starting at the trailhead off HWY 900 in Issaquah, tagging the access points I missed on the last hike as I did not want to go down to the highway twice in the heat on my previous outing. Ironically, I hiked most of the same trail to finish about one mile of some short out-and-back access points off a private road and to the Doughty Falls Viewpoint, which sadly was dry. I had aspirations of connecting to the Licorice Fern trail, but it was still in poor condition – it was a good call as that objective would have added an additional 14 miles. I still gained 1700 feet which was not trival for this day. I like how you can see signs of different ages and conditions throughout the park. Another outing was in order for me to complete hiking Cougar Mountain.
