January Winter Conditioning Runs: 5-7 miles - Cougar Mountain: Big Tree Ridge Trailhead

Meet at 6:00 am at *Big Tree Ridge trailhead* just off of Newport Way Northwest. Following introductions, description of route and current trail conditions, plan to start running at 6:10 am. Participants may need to park at Tibbetts Valley Park parking lot, cross the street, and walk to the trailhead. 

Directions to trailhead: From I-90: Take exit 13 onto Newport Way, heading southeast toward Issaquah for 1.8 miles. Just after passing Oakcrest Boulevard on your right, with a large SUMMERHILL neighborhood sign, a white metal gate on the right marks the trailhead. There is a trailhead sign beyond the gate with a map and a wooden sign pointing to the Big Tree Ridge Trail and Military Ridge Trail.

Coordinates for Tibbetts Valley Park parking lot: 47.540879, -122.062351

We will follow a clockwise loop for ~5 1/4 miles total distance with 1,726 ft elevation gain, following many trails: Big Tree Ridge, Red Cedars, Surprise Creek, Protector, West Tibbetts Creek, Bear Ridge and Shangri La trails. We will look to do an avg pace of 3.5 mph: moderate hike uphill and 4.5-5.0 mph straighaway and downhill. Please bring headlamp since we will be starting in the dark!

For a complete description of  trail running with the Mountaineers, please consult the Trail Running Standards.

Gaia route: https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=13.9/-122.0858/47.5448&pubLink=6npBJCfUiJ416RQx2FWpIHv3&trackId=5eda360f-6027-4180-b4ce-9e5652112012

King County Cougar Map: https://your.kingcounty.gov/GIS/web/Web/VMC/recreation/BCT_CougarMtn_brochure_.pdf

Full details will be soon after registration closes on Jan 7. In the interim, please contact the leader with any questions at nsemez@gmail.com.