Issaquah Alps Trails Club
Encyclopedia
The Issaquah Alps Trails Club offers guided hikes, public land advocacy, and performs trail maintenance in the modest range of Cascade foothills known as the Issaquah Alps
near Seattle, Washington
, in the United States
. The IATC also publishes books about local coal-mining history, trail guidebooks, and distributes detailed trail maps of Cougar Mountain
, Tiger Mountain
, and Squak Mountain
.
) to bisect the eastern suburbs and exurbs
of Seattle. This situation soon changed after most of the bottom land was locked up. Author and outdoorsman Harvey Manning
promoted the "Issaquah Blobs" to Alps in the pages of his 1976 trail guide for the Seattle area, Footsore 1 with the aim of promoting the preservation of the large area of uplands which lie along I-90.
Newspaper articles soon appeared revealing the Issaquah Alps to a wider public. Roughly 100 hikers came together for two "public stunts" in November 1977 and in April 1979 to further raise awareness of the wilderness on the edge of Seattle. In May 1979 atop Long View Peak at Cougar Mountain
the hikers officially organized as a trails club. The IATC has had a few setbacks from developers (notably Grand Ridge on the Sammamish Plateau) but overall they have been greatly instrumental in getting King County
and local communities to set aside much of the Alps for recreational use. The club is now working with the Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club to advocate land management for the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway.
Issaquah Alps
The Issaquah Alps are the highlands near Issaquah, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, including Cougar Mountain, Squak Mountain, Tiger Mountain, Taylor Mountain, Rattlesnake Ridge, Rattlesnake Mountain, and Grand Ridge...
near Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The IATC also publishes books about local coal-mining history, trail guidebooks, and distributes detailed trail maps of Cougar Mountain
Cougar Mountain
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is a regional park in King County, Washington, near the towns of Bellevue and Issaquah. The park was established in June 1983 to protect the central core of Cougar Mountain...
, Tiger Mountain
Tiger Mountain
Tiger Mountain is a mountain in the U.S. state of Washington.-The mountain:The mountain has six peaks in the center of the Issaquah Alps forming a triangle between Interstate 90 on the north, the Issaquah-Hobart Road on the southwest, and State Route 18 on the southeast...
, and Squak Mountain
Squak Mountain
Squak Mountain is the second most westerly mountain of the Issaquah Alps mountain chain in Washington state. It is situated between Cougar Mountain to the west and Tiger Mountain to the east. Interstate 90 parallels the base of the north side of the mountain. Much of the Squak Mountain watershed...
.
History
As the Seattle area grew, residential development concentrated in the flatlands and generally avoided the higher elevations, leaving a large green zone of relatively undeveloped land (centered around the bedroom community of IssaquahIssaquah, Washington
Issaquah is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 30,434 at the 2010 census.Based on per capita income, Issaquah ranks 25th of 522 areas in the State of Washington to be ranked....
) to bisect the eastern suburbs and exurbs
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
of Seattle. This situation soon changed after most of the bottom land was locked up. Author and outdoorsman Harvey Manning
Harvey Manning
Harvey Manning was a noted author of hiking guides and climbing textbooks, and a tireless hiking advocate. Manning lived on Cougar Mountain, within the city limits of Bellevue, Washington, calling his home the "200 meter hut"...
promoted the "Issaquah Blobs" to Alps in the pages of his 1976 trail guide for the Seattle area, Footsore 1 with the aim of promoting the preservation of the large area of uplands which lie along I-90.
Newspaper articles soon appeared revealing the Issaquah Alps to a wider public. Roughly 100 hikers came together for two "public stunts" in November 1977 and in April 1979 to further raise awareness of the wilderness on the edge of Seattle. In May 1979 atop Long View Peak at Cougar Mountain
Cougar Mountain
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is a regional park in King County, Washington, near the towns of Bellevue and Issaquah. The park was established in June 1983 to protect the central core of Cougar Mountain...
the hikers officially organized as a trails club. The IATC has had a few setbacks from developers (notably Grand Ridge on the Sammamish Plateau) but overall they have been greatly instrumental in getting King County
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
and local communities to set aside much of the Alps for recreational use. The club is now working with the Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club to advocate land management for the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway.