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Elk-Kings Mtns Scramble 9-10-06

Posted by Jill (2006-09-11)
This hike don't play. Well, I guess it's technically called a scramble. We started out early, um, not so early, Sunday morning and headed up the Kings Mtn Trail.

At .10, we took a right onto the Wilson River Trail and think, hmm, this ain't so bad. We followed this trail appx 3.3 miles until we reached the Elk Mtn TH. This is when you first see what you're in for. "Ready?", we looked at each other and sort of laughed and up we went hands and knees for the next 1.4 miles to the summit.

The next day...no, just kidding...we made it to the summit in one piece. We passed two parties coming down but had the summit completely to ourselves. It was peaceful and fulfilling time we had on top of Elk Mtn. We squeezed our name somewhere onto the full summit register and had a bit of lunch. As a sidenote; It is hard to believe that someone actually did this with a toddler in a carrier. I would have had a heart attack halfway up here.

As we stood on the summit we gazed over at what must be Kings Mtn.

Kings Mtn from Elk Mtn And then with a deep breath, decided to carry on. The hard part must be over, right?

Wrong! We climbed down from Elk's summit, pretty steep for a good while. Folks, don't bring children down this way. After scrambling down a ridge for about a half mile, the trail joins up with an old forest road and the hike turns into a hike for a while until you come to the junction with the Kings Mtn trail, appx 2 miles from the Elk Mtn summit.

We headed down the trail enroute to the Kings Mtn summit, just a mere 1.3 mile away after which the trail begins to climb again and turns back into the scramble we have become so accustomed to. There is a point however, where the descent is so steep there is a rope tied to a stump to assist you in getting down. This is I believe, in my hearts of hearts, due to a Mazama member somewhere out there and I can tell you that I will never believe otherwise. Trail angels and no one can change my mind about that.

After decending this part, I was pretty much covered in dirt and looked more like a Marine than a hiker but this is all part of the fun. Just when I personally thought that I had died and gone to scrambling hell, we reached a flat spot. I rubbed my muddy little hands across my face, again, and there it was within 500' or so, the summit of Kings Mtn.

Well, that felt pretty good. So we ran (hardly) the rest of the way to the summit hardly noticing the stares (I am sure we were a sight) from only the third party we have seen the entire day.

View from Kings Mtn Summit Again we had the summit to ourselves. This summit log was full too but we managed to find a spot to scribble our names and off we went running and rolling down the last extremely steep, but not a scramble, 2.5 miles back to the car. We ran into one other couple on the way down, the fourth party of the day. They were gracious enough to share some of their water with us as we had ran out at the summit. (We went through 4 liters of water and did not see a drop on the trail.) Not bad for solitude on a beautiful September day.

The hike in our calculations was 10.8 miles RT. It was a great day!!

EDIT:

This hike was started at the Kings Mtn TH on Hwy 6 heading west toward Tillamook, OR. From Portland, take Hwy 26 and then left on Hwy 6, appx 30+ miles to the TH on the right. :

As a note also be advised: there seem to be a couple of mileage descrepancies in the 75 Scrambles in Oregon guide, both in the hike and the driving directions.

Re: Elk-Kings Mtns Scramble 9-10-06

Posted by jimsiff (2006-09-11)

Jill:
After decending this part, I was pretty much covered in dirt and looked more like a Marine than a hiker but this is all part of the fun. Just when I personally thought that I had died and gone to scrambling hell, we reached a flat spot. I rubbed my muddy little hands across my face, again, and there it was within 500' or so, the summit of Kings Mtn.

Well, that felt pretty good. So we ran (hardly) the rest of the way to the summit hardly noticing the stares (I am sure we were a sight) from only the third party we have seen the entire day.

Elk-Kings is a great one.  Your description of your appearance is vivid and humerous!  I bet the other party was either wondering where the heck you came from or what the heck were they getting into doing the traverse in reverse.  Big Smile  Did you get your camera situation figured out since your Goat Rocks trip?

Jessbee, if you read this, put Elk, Kings, or the Elk-Kings traverse on your list.  You want steep trails without many switchbacks, these two Coast Range peaks do the trick.  They are two of the steepest trails in western Oregon.  They can be done individually, or as a loop like Jill did.

 

Re: Elk-Kings Mtns Scramble 9-10-06

Posted by sparklehorse (2006-09-12)
Nice TR and pics Jill! I've read that that one is quite a doosie. I did just the Kings Mountain part (not the loop) a couple of months ago and that hike alone is no slouch. Perhaps next year I'll take on the whole Elk-Kings loop. IF I get up enough courage that is!
G

Re: Elk-Kings Mtns Scramble 9-10-06

Posted by Rick (2006-10-21)

I'm a bit late responding to this wonderful post (just wandered into this website tonight for the first time). Thought I should mention something about that rope on the backside of King Mt. It was not put in by the Mazamas (liability issue), apparently a private party added it sometime in the past year

I am actually in charge of the Mazama trail tending trips out there and would welcome updated reports or comments on the trail during the year. It is intended to remain a "primitive" trail and our primary goal is to preserve the trail by cleaning out drain dips, trimming back brush to keep people on the center of the tread, and cutting out the worst of the downfall. We typically run three trips a year out there and rarely are able to clean up the entire loop in any given year.

To that end, anyone who loves this trail is encourage to keep an eye on the Mazama website www.mazamas.org and watch for upcoming trips. I have been understaffed on most work parties and we can always use more help. Shameless plug: Oct 28 is the next work party on the Kings side, 8 am meeting time, S side of Target Store parking lot on Evergreen near NW 185th (just off hwy 26). It always seems to rain on my work trips, just a word of warning Sad

Thanks!

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