Even though I still take frequent bike rides, this is the time of year that I'm not so interested in laying down a lot of mileage. This is when I slow down to explore and poke around, maybe learn some roadside or trailside history.
Cougar Mountain, which lies a few miles east of my house, is a good destination for this. I've written about the old coal mining industry that thrived there at the turn of the century; this past week I've been learning about its role in the Cold War defense of Seattle.
Today the mountain is a mix of flashy, big box homes and golf courses and the 3,000-acre Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. Although the park's trails are closed to bicycling, the two Cold War-era military bases are accessible by short dirt roads from residential streets.
Hilltop location
The ride up to Anti-Aircraft Peak is a good workout. Only about 8 miles from my home, it's more than a 1,000-foot climb for me. The Nike Missile Base is about 300 feet lower and about a mile shorter.
Stopping to look around up there isn't such a bad idea for cyclists climbing Cougar Mountain this time of year anyway; it gives some time for the perspiration to evaporate before making the brisk ride downhill.
It's a little shocking to pass toney houses with million-dollar views of Seattle, Bellevue and Lake Sammamish and be thrust back to a time that, for me, recalls air raid drills and filing into the school hallways to squat down and cover our heads for protection in a nuclear blast.
Guns, then radar
As the name suggests, Anti-Aircraft Peak housed 90mm Skymaster anti-aircraft guns beginning in 1953 to ward off any aerial attack on Seattle from the Soviet Union.
As aircraft improved, the anti-aircraft guns on Cougar Mountain were replaced by the Nike missile defense system. This comprised a radar control site and a separate launch site. About 125 men billeted at the two sites.
Operational from 1957 to 1967, the radar site occupied the old anti-aircraft gun location. It consisted of three radars, barracks, mess halls, electricity generators and control rooms.
Launchers
A little further downhill was the actual launch site. Today this is a large meadow with a low sand “blast berm” at one end. The Nike missiles were stored in two-story deep reinforced concrete vaults under what is now a meadow. The vaults have been filled with water and sand.
According to information at the park site, as many as six missiles would be in position for firing on above ground launchers during “active cold war alerts.” There were 10-12 of these sites around Seattle.
The launch crews also worked underground; imagine a scene from the movies “Fair-Safe”, or “Dr. Strangelove.” While the crews trained and test fired missiles in the desert, the only possible missile firing here was a test in April 1959.
Getting there
From the east, find Lakemont Boulevard from either Newport Way on the north or Newcastle Golf Course Road on the south. Turn east at Cougar Mountain Way.
For the Nike missile site, turn right onto 166th Way SE and follow it less than a mile to a parking lot for the new Sky Country Trailhead. Lock up your bike here; the missile site is just beyond the parking lot.
For Anti-Aircraft Peak, continue up Cougar Mountain Way. It twists into 168th Place SE. Turn right when it becomes Cougar Mountain Drive which eventually runs out of pavement and becomes packed dirt; a little messy this time of year. The military base is just beyond the parking lot.
Riding on park trails is verboten.
More information about Nike Missile Defense System; other Nike sites in Washington state; and Cold War defenses for Seattle.
November stats
Just to keep me honest, I'm still plugging along at my 4,000-mile goal for 2008. My errands and many short rides racked up 267 miles in November, which leaves me 212 miles to go by Dec. 31.
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