Cougar Mountain Trail Running

Published on 2004-1-22 by Michael Stanton

Cougar Mountain, Jan 22, 2004

I'd long wondering about trail running, and a gut-busting Indian Food meal the night before with Kris and Theron convinced me it was time to step up to the plate. I forgot my headlamp, so I had to wait until 7:15 to start, but I parked at the Squak Mtn. Connector Trail (I mistakenly thought it was the Wilderness Creek trailhead, which would cause hilarity later when I finished my "loop." Of course, I didn't have a map either!). I used the "50 Trail Runs in Washington" book to chose a course. I altered that books course to shorten the 14 mile run to about 11 miles by truncating the loop at Clay Pit Road.

This was more fun than I expected it to be. Especially with music! The sunrise was awesome, with a golden Mt. Rainier and pink sky visible from Wilderness Peak. I really enjoyed running along the trail. My truncated loop took me 2.5 hours. It was hard to keep track of all the junctions, but the signs were good. I'm going to be pretty sore I think! Looking forward to some more of this...