We are in "training" for Mark's Mt. Hood climb the first week of June. I'm not climbing, but tagging along on the hikes to get in shape. A couple of weeks ago we hiked to Council Crest from our house on a beautiful sunny Saturday. Yesterday, we headed to the coast on Highway 6 and hiked to the top of Kings Mountain. It's located in the Tillamook State Forest at milepost 25 on Highway 6 (25 miles east of Tillamook). I've never been quite sure on the from which direction they start...Our climbing partner was Guido, my boss from Priority Footwear. Mark is taking Guido and my other boss Dave up Mt. Hood. We got to the trailhead about 9 and headed up the 2.5 mile trail to the top. It was about a 2,400 foot elevation gain in that 2.5 miles, so needless to say it was steep in parts. The trail is well maintained by the Mazamas with great signage and good trail condition. Not a lot of switchbacks which reminded Mark and I of our trek through the White Mountains on the Appalachian Trail back in the summer of 2001. It was a hut to hut. Every morning when we would leave the hut the first trail was straight up!!
The views were great on the way up. We were a little early for the full wildflower bloom (but I noticed quite a few had opened up by the time we went down.) We saw lots of trilliums and other assorted pink, purple and yellow flowers. I wish I could tell you what they were!
As I said, it was steep, but that meant we got to one of the highest parts in the coast range and the views were magnificent. We signed the climber's log at the top and had a bite to eat.
I've decided that I have an obsession with taking snag pictures....Love the art in their form I guess.
Notice the elevation marker above, 3,000 ft.
We had to pose by the cool carved sign at the summit. Which is 3,243!
We headed down (which took a lot shorter time). We had gorgeous weather so that we could see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood and the Pacific Ocean. My quads and calves are feeling it today!
No comments:
Post a Comment