Cougar Mountain: Coal country and cold war anti-aircraft missile battery

The legacy of King Coal in King County is the fact that there are some places you just don't hike.

Monday, Nov. 25, 2019: Even the best laid plans . . . .
Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club had to make some adjustments to our hiking plans yesterday because King county had decided that the hazards of hiking in what had been coal country presented required mitigation. The hike was led by Yaz Obara from the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park trailhead, and we hadn't gone 100 yards before we came across the surprise expressed in the hoto immediately above. So we changed directions, but we still got in a nice hike on this drizzly an rainy day  in an area with lots of side trails. Yaz's summary afterward noted that we hiked from the trailhead to the anti-aircraft Peak and back. "We hiked Cave Hole Trail, Klondike Swamp Trail, Harvey Manning Trail, Shangri-La Trail and Coyote Creek." His map is immediately below.

Distance for the day:  At least 3.5 miles
Conditions: Chilly, raining, overcast.
Load: 17 pounds pounds 
Elevation gain: 400  feet, at least

Statistics, year to date:
Distance: 256.2 miles 
Elevation Gain: 75,978 feet



Below is a more complete map of the park; click on it and you obtain a  larger image, which can be downloaded and saved. Copies are provided at the trailhead.

The "history" that must have been in this small building has gone the way of the Nike missiles.

Immediately above is one of the remnants of what had been a Nike anti-aircraft battery. At one time it probably had information about the air defense installation, but now it's just a hollow shell. However, here's some details about what was going on at Cougar Mountain, long after coal was no longer being mined there: 

The Nike missiles were our air defense against Russian bombers. They had a maximum speed of 1,000 mph, a 25-mile range and a 70,000 foot ceiling. They packed a punch -- a tactical nuclear warhead. Documentation that I discovered in a cursory search indicates they may have also carried conventional explosives. The missiles were driven by four radars at the Integrated Fire Control (IFC) area of each Nike site: Target Tracking Radar (TTR), Target Ranging Radar (TRR), Missile Tracking Radar (MTR), and High-Powered Acquisition Radar (HIPAR).

There were approximately 265 Nike missile bases which can still be seen around cities across the United States. As the sites were decommissioned they were first offered to federal agencies.

Fellow hikers: Yaz, Richard and Cherie, Tom, and two others whose names eluded me.

Two Hikes: Little Si and Middle Fork Snoqualmie

One of many brisk waterfalls that crossed our trail Sunday, Nov. 10.

Joan Tito next to boulder

There were two hikes in three days: The first on Little Si, with my hiking buddie, Joan Tito, pictured at the right next to some impressive boulders along the trail. The second around the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River, near Blowout Creek and the Oxbow Loop. The first hike was for elevation gain and conditioning. It reached about 3.6 miles and at least an 800 foot elevation gain. (We didn't go for the summit.)

The second was about 7 miles and at least a 600 foot elevation gain. It had a rain forest feel due to the heavy rain that hits the area each year, with tumbling brooks crossing the trail, as well as lots of moss, mushrooms and ferns. That hike was sponsored by the Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club.

Stats for the week:
Distance: 10.6 miles
Conditions: Cool weather; overcast one day with slight drizzle
Load: 16 pounds pounds minimum
Elevation gain: 1,400 feet, at least

Statistics, year to date:
Distance: 249.4 miles 
Elevation Gain: 74,878 feet

Ettie, a member of Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club, next to a huge stump that caught her eye.

Another stump, whose springboard cuts resemble eyes, observing the hikers on the trail below.

The Blowout Creek / Oxbow Loop hike was a photographer's dream, with sights like the stump at the left, dead lone enough to become the buffet for woodpeckers and perhaps a hope for other critters.

A view of the Oxbow from the Oxbow Loop