Elk Mtn (W Ridge)/Kings Mtn Loop 27-Jan-2011

[mayhem]

trails that I thought I found but did not. I really did find the trails this time

Ahh, did you hike those two trails? Of so, where do they go?

They are the real Kings jr Loop. supposedly you go up Kings Jr jeep trail & come out here or vise versa. I have not hiked these. I have been sticking to the Wilson river trail. I plan to do all of the trails in the spring with the Goat. I'm working on Maximum distance & Elevation for my goals that I failed on last year = Wilson River Elk Mnt to Keenig Creek out & back & the Timber line trail.

[Eric Peterson]

They are the real Kings jr Loop

I'm pretty sure the real Kings Jr. or Little Kings loop comes out just some 100 yards or so before
the Kings Jr/Wilson River junction and have seen the old road several times where it
meets up with Wilson, there is also some ribbon flagging too. Ill take some pictures next
time I go as I'm heading up to do the West Ridge of Kings off the Wilson sometime soon...

[mayhem]

They are the real Kings jr Loop

I'm pretty sure the real Kings Jr. or Little Kings loop comes out just some 100 yards or so before
the Kings Jr/Wilson River junction and have seen the old road several times where it
meets up with Wilson, there is also some ribbon flagging too. Ill take some pictures next
time I go as I'm heading up to do the West Ridge of Kings off the Wilson sometime soon...

I found these after reading the summit post & the other hike forum Meet Up. I can verify this 100% if I can get a hold of Brad French. He basically owns the whole area... Not really but I believe he made every non maintained trail in the area.

[Eric Peterson]

Mayhem -

Forgot to mention I talked to Brad French via Facebook, and I'm still pretty sure that the real King's JR loop is as described in the Douglas Lorraine hiking book, I've seen where it junctions to the Wilson near Kings JR mountain a bunch of times now. The Mazamas are calling Kings JR Little Kings but they are the same loop.
The sign that says Kings JR up on Kings proper trail is just pointing to the Kings Jr summit, and it was a short
bushwhack well marked too...

[mayhem]

Mayhem -

Forgot to mention I talked to Brad French via Facebook, and I'm still pretty sure that the real King's JR loop is as described in the Douglas Lorraine hiking book, I've seen where it junctions to the Wilson near Kings JR mountain a bunch of times now. The Mazamas are calling Kings JR Little Kings but they are the same loop.
The sign that says Kings JR up on Kings proper trail is just pointing to the Kings Jr summit, and it was a short
bushwhack well marked too...

Hey that is great! Good work Eric. I guess that answers that!

[Eric Peterson]

Hey Mayhem...

I finally saw those blue paint marks on those trees today!! All I had to do was go
another 20' or so and I would have seen these before while going up Kings JR.

Yeah, when heading FROM Lester Creek you can see these better too. Kings JR is
right here at this ridge. Did some exploring today in this area down to Lester Creek
looking for the West ridge game trail hike up to Kings, but it was a bit too rainy
for a lot of off trail work, so went back to head up Kings JR to get to Kings.

Here are some more pictures of the blue markers, they appear to mark future timber
sales in the area one of which is called 'Scotty Dog', which is the area between
Scotty Creek and Dog Creek. Sure hope these timber sales were the ones
that got stopped a few years ago?

Not sure I'm going to make a formal trip report for my work out today, as I only
took pictures of these markers and some of Little Kings. These picture were taken in
the Little Kings area...

[mayhem]

Cool... Thanks Eric. I cannot wait for a future report! That whole area is such a treat to have with many options all year round. You adventurous types (Eric, VanMarmot, Thum) make it easier for me to understand & follow.

[Peder]

Bruce and Eric - I finally did the west ridge of Elk yesterday and had a really hard time! Between 1300' and 1700' I kept getting kicked off the ridge to the left (north) and ended doing most of that stretch in the (heavily vegetated) forest below the ridge. As supplementary entertainment, I dropped my GPS at the foot of the first outcrop (1300') and later had to go down an search for it. I was lucky and found the GPS, but there are a LOT of ferns to look under! Perhaps the season and the lush vegetation make some of the game trails hard to see and follow; anyhow I got a thorough workout.

[VanMarmot]

Bruce and Eric - I finally did the west ridge of Elk yesterday and had a really hard time! Between 1300' and 1700' I kept getting kicked off the ridge to the left (north) and ended doing most of that stretch in the (heavily vegetated) forest below the ridge. As supplementary entertainment, I dropped my GPS at the foot of the first outcrop (1300') and later had to go down an search for it. I was lucky and found the GPS, but there are a LOT of ferns to look under! Perhaps the season and the lush vegetation make some of the game trails hard to see and follow; anyhow I got a thorough workout.

If there's a "trick" to the W ridge, it's not getting pushed off the ridge and into the ferns near the bottom. Going up, I was able to miss them by scrambling on the ridge. Later, on a descent, I didn't try hard enough to stay on the ridge and ended up in the ferns. They're slippery and hide loose rocks and pot-holes. Definitely recommend fighting to stay ON the ridge crest!

[Eric Peterson]

Between 1300' and 1700' I kept getting kicked off the ridge to the left (north) and ended doing most of that stretch in the (heavily vegetated) forest below the ridge.

Hey Peder, somehow I missed this.

I think I was also not on the ridge the entire time and fought the ferns and made it up,
maybe not as hard of a time as you had, I don't remember really and I need to revisit
this ridge with my GPS to get a reliable track. I will wait for more vegetation to fall though...