Saturday, April 25, 2009

Cougar Mountain – Wilderness Peak and Creek Trails


Last week I visited the eastern side of Cougar Mountain. Noa and I did this hike by ourselves, so there was no pressure to keep pace with a large group. It was a beautiful spring day, and the trail was full of stops as we focused our camera on the nature around us. The frequent stops were encouraged by my research of the mountain’s features and vegetation. The trails wound us through deposits of glacial erratic left from the last ice age to the highest point on the mountain (1,595 ft.) not really noteworthy, but its environment definitely worth exploring.

The understory was full of blossoming flowers (tons of Trillium) and new fern fiddleheads. I spent a lot of time taking photos of the many of the trees - Douglas-firs, Western Red Cedars mainly. I even captured what I think was a Big Leaf Maple doing its interpretation of a Tim Burton back drop. The mountain has many peaks and once up top there were many birds. I was able to snap a last minute photo of a Red-Breasted Sapsucker (woodpecker) as it flew from tree to tree pecking at its bark.

The way back down the mountain provided a new environment to photograph since the trail route we took was configured as a loop; I prefer this over the out-and-back trail. Noa and I agreed that we would like to revisit this trail later in the year when all the vegetation is in full bloom.

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