A Huge Beaver Dam, Mud & Spirea Planting in the Clay Pit Mine on Cougar Mountain

The Homeschool Stewardship Squad always has fun at the clay pit mine on Cougar Mountain. Since the conclusion of mining and supply to the Newcastle Brick Kiln, King County has been working at restoring the vast open scar. This is no easy task when the nutritious topsoil lay is excessively stripped away. What is left is pure clay subsoil without the optimal tilth, nutrients and pore space of the upper soil horizons.

Nevertheless, nature has pioneer species that cope with suboptimal conditions so alder are getting established and pockets of conifers are hanging in there. Last summer’s extra moisture helped. We planted hardhack / Spirea douglasii at the edge of the wetland in the low point of the mine depression. There is much to enjoy at this neat site, including the beautiful aqua colour of the silty runoff, usually seen more commonly in alpine water bodies with glacial milk from the tiny particles suspended in the water. Also fun is the incredible beaver dam along the road in to the site! It’s closed to vehicles outside of work parties but you can hike it.

More Native Planting at the Clay Pit Mine

It was a super muddy and fun day of play, exploration and restoration work at the old clay pit mine on Cougar Mountain with King County Parks. We planted native trees and shrubs, such as big leaf maple, Douglas fir and hardhack/Spirea douglasii in the former mine. One can still find brick remnants on site.

Certain native plants will grow roots when live stakes (sections of fresh branches) are driven down into the soil during the dormant season. We used an awl to create a shaft two feet deep into which the willow stakes were inserted. The bud-eyes along the stems will switch to root-output after some time in wet soil.

Click on the 'clay pit mine' tag at the bottom of the post or at the right to read more about the fascinating history of this site, which created the bricks for Red Square at the UW. There is also an impressive beaver dam on the (closed to public vehicles) road you can take on foot to hike into the overlook of the site, where there is also signage.

Live-Staking Willow & Cottonwood in the Old Clay Pit Mine on Cougar Mountain

It is always fun to work on restoring the old clay pit mine on Cougar Mountain with King County Parks. It was muddy of course, but less dramatically so now that the hydroseed has stabilized the clay somewhat. The gloppy clay was the perfect place for a bear to seemingly leave a clear print for us to find though! Have a look below.

The wet lowlands are a great place to drive live-stakes (fresh sticks) into the ground. A few native plants will grow roots when driven down into the soil–cottonwood and willow are ones we planted, osier dogwood is also one that will root.

Click on the 'clay pit mine' tag at the bottom of the post or at the right to read more about the fascinating history of this site, which created the bricks for Red Square at the UW. There is also an impressive beaver dam on the (closed) road you can take on foot to hike into the overlook of the site, where there is also signage.

Clay Pit Mine Restoration on Cougar Mountain.

We enjoyed spotting the handsome cinnabar moth / Tyria jacobaeae which was introduced to America as a biological control agent. It's distinctive orange/black striped larvae have proven to be particularly successful as a biocontrol agent for ragwort when used in conjunction with the ragwort flea beetle in the western United States- according to Wikipedia. The effects of biological controls can inadvertently be detrimental to the native ecological balance which, being delicate and complex, can be hard to predict. Additionally, the spines of the cateperpillar can be irritating and worse if handled.

Contributing the the giant restoration task that is refurbishing the old clay pit mine on Cougar Mountain is always a pleasure for the Homeschool Stewardship Squad. Contrary to our last visit, shrouded in heavy cold mist, this beautiful event was a stunner! One could nearly complain about the season's first hot spell while hauling buckets of mulch in the blazing sun.

The kids took it in stride, lugging wood chips up and down the hill to create nourishing rings around the baby trees so as to retain soil moisture in the summer as well as to smother weeds. Operating the wheel barrow is naturally a popular task.

Watching the mysterious bright red moth flit about was fascinating, I had to look it up (see left). For more information about the clay pit mine, see past posts tagged as such (right). Thanks to King County for hosting us at this fun site.

Summertime is upon us, look out for summer work/swim events to start up soon! Water play is a special treat after some stewardship.  And our knowledgeable event hosts find us some fantastic swimming holes!

Restoration of the Mine that Produced the Bricks for UW's Red Square.

Stewardship Squad reveled in the unique landscape of the old clay pit mine on Cougar Mountain. Along with an AmeriCorps crew, we helped King County with the restoration effort by planting trees. The former mining operation included a kiln that baked the bricks on site, which were used to make UW’s Red Square! A pretty fascinating connection between local iconic environments. You could even find bits of bricks lying around.

The bare ground was seeded with grass to prevent erosion, but the site was still very very muddy! This was quite delightful to several youngsters, even after getting stranded in the sloppy suction. We drove in a caravan beyond a locked gate to reach the site, which is closed to the public while under restoration, but I believe one can hike in to glimpse views from the edge of the rim. It is a bare kind of lovely....reminiscent of an alpine meadow, especially with the mountain vista to the East.

Also enjoyable was learning more about the AmeriCorps crew members whom hailed from all over the country. We have worked with various crew members over the years, but appreciated hearing a more full explanation of the one-year public service program, which is often explained as a domestic Peace Corps. Many-a-parent mused about the unique opportunity for young adults to both travel around the country and gain experience in a wide variety of public services, from planting and tax assistance to teaching first-aid and assisting non-profits. The AmeriCorps members teamed up with kids to plant cottonwood trees / Populous trichocarpa in different areas, and more than one kid proudly demonstrated they had already planted trees dozens of times, which was received with raised eyebrows and warm smiles. Those smiles got even bigger when one Squad regular brought out his ridiculously adorable puppy to say hi to everyone. After finishing early we had time to explore and visit. We are definitely looking forward to returning to this fascinating site to watch the restoration progress! Very exciting that Squad got to be there early on in this site's journey back to nature.