Coronary Ridge to Kings Mountain 3-17-19
Posted: March 20th, 2019, 7:49 am
It being a warm Sunday, the masses slavering for some kind of outdoor relief all seemed to be gathered at the Kings Mountain Trailhead. We parked in a pullout down the highway, but soon left the pilgrimage route and took the Wilson River Trail to Coronary Ridge (Kings Mountain Junior).
There were some melted out tracks on the ridge, but none for the day, so it was a peaceful ascent on a rapidly melting bed of snow where we had to dig in steps on the steep bits. Somewhere on the ridge is where we picked up a tick and transported it back to Portland.
Once on the Kings Mountain Trail, we enjoyed a game of tag with a couple of parties. On the summit, there were drifts up to three feet deep (and some spectacular postholes).
The descent was trickier, with a couple of traffic jams and much slipping and sliding. At one point, I heard a plaintive “I can’t stop,” and jumped off the trail to hug a tree as a fellow hiker came streaking past in an uncontrolled glissade. It was day of frozen tootsies and T-shirts, plus a tick - harbingers of spring.
There were some melted out tracks on the ridge, but none for the day, so it was a peaceful ascent on a rapidly melting bed of snow where we had to dig in steps on the steep bits. Somewhere on the ridge is where we picked up a tick and transported it back to Portland.
Once on the Kings Mountain Trail, we enjoyed a game of tag with a couple of parties. On the summit, there were drifts up to three feet deep (and some spectacular postholes).
The descent was trickier, with a couple of traffic jams and much slipping and sliding. At one point, I heard a plaintive “I can’t stop,” and jumped off the trail to hug a tree as a fellow hiker came streaking past in an uncontrolled glissade. It was day of frozen tootsies and T-shirts, plus a tick - harbingers of spring.