Who'da thunk...5.5" of snow on April
20, cancelling the original
Cougar Mountain CITO (aka SnoCITO). Amazingly, 30 hardy cachers
showed up anyway, and we had fun caching in the white stuff instead
of working. Thanks to all the support for a rescheduled event, here
it is.
Cougar
Mountain Regional Wildlife Park is King County’s largest park,
covering 3,082 acres, with more than 36 miles of hiking trails and
around 30 geocaches (several near the CITO location). Bordered by
Bellevue, Newcastle, and Issaquah, Cougar Mountain is a natural
oasis today, but this “Issaquah Alp” has a rich mining and railroad
history (highlighted in park exhibits and some of the caches).
This is the first CITO at Cougar Mountain, and our first CITO in
partnership with King County Parks' volunteer program. KCP has been
very receptive to geocaching, so let’s thank them by making this a
hugely successful work project! And, if you haven't been down this
way to cache, now's your chance - the CITO finishes at 2:00 pm,
leaving you plenty of time to find some of the many great caches in
the vicinity.
Time and place? CITO is 10:00 am – 2:00 pm; meet at the
Red Town trailhead (posted coordinates) at the picnic table. Please
arrive promptly at 10:00 am, so KCP can get us organized and
maximize the work time. Carpool if you can, as parking is somewhat
limited at Red Town, and we’ll be sharing it with regular park
visitors. When you RSVP, please note how many are attending, so I
can provide a head count to the KC folks. Thanks!
Everyone will need to sign a liability waiver on-site. If anyone
under age 18 plans to attend without parent or guardian, I have a
form you must get signed in advance in order to participate. I
can't upload the PDF, so please email me.
Work project? We are going to clear/grub out blackberries
from the trail side of the lawn at Red Town (near parking area) and
restore with native plants. Kids are welcome, although if they are
too young, they might get bored or worn out.
What to wear and bring? Long pants and boots are a must.
Dress to get dirty! Raingear and layers depending on weather. Bring
work gloves and hand pruners if you have them; KCP will provide
other necessary tools (like shovels). Bring water for the trail,
and snacks/lunch if you want to hang out or hike/cache
afterward.
Chances of snow? Hopefully nil at the end of May.
However, we thought that on April 20, too.
More about Cougar Mountain? Visit the park
website. And here’s the park
map.