On Martin Luther King day two weeks ago my exchange brother, my best friend and I decided to spend our day off hiking and getting to the top of a couple mountains. Our hike was located on hwy 6 between Beaverton and Tillamook Oregon. We got a late start and didn't get to the parking lot till about 10 am. I was a little worried about day light as it's winter here and the sun has been setting at around 5pm. I found this hike in a guide book for scrambling around Oregon and the book gave a rough estimate of 6-8 hours to complete, but figured we could just hustle our way through and be fine.
Trail sign at the Elk Mountain parking lot
The loop is 9.5 miles total and takes you along the Wilson river for 3.5 miles first if you are doing the loop counter clockwise as the book suggests. After a half mile or so you will cross the first of a handful of drainage creeks flowing into the Wilson river.
The first creek you cross
After winding our way through the trees and along the Wilson for another three miles we came to a trail sign leading up a ridge and away from the Wilson river for the first time. This is where we took our first little snack break to regain our stamina before heading up the ridge.
Elk mountain sign leading up the ridge and away from the Wilson
The trail heading up the ridge was pretty steep climbing 1,500 feet in a little over a mile. Even though the trail was narrow for most of the way with steep drops on either side it didn't feel like we were exposed due to the thick trees blanketing the mountain sides. Along the way we scrambled our way from viewpoint to viewpoint with the vastness of the coast range becoming grander every time we stopped to look and catch our breath.
A good look back down at hwy 6 and the Wilson river
My exchange brother posing in the light
As we neared the top of Elk mountain the hiking became a bit more difficult as our breath ran short and hiking turned into scrambling. We were making good time though and we continued to wind our way up the ridge.
My best friend making his way up a particularly narrow section
We got to the top of Elk mountain and took time to enjoy the views of the cascade range and mt. Hood to the east and a massive cloud front where the ocean would have been on a clear day. We signed the register proving to the world that we had made it and snacked a bit before we continued the last four miles ahead of us. Just on the other side coming up was a group of about seven people so we got to hiking before the summit became to crowded.
Nevin signing the register and the top of Elk mountain
The view east from Elk mountain, Mt. Hood in the distance
We climbed down the other side of Elk and winded our way around the ridge taking a horseshoe route to Kings mountain. The trail makes this big horseshoe bend to keep you from losing to much elevation before climbing another 1,400 feet to the top of Kings mountain which is the taller of the pair.
Nev and I, Kings mt. in the background
We came to the last trail sign pointing us towards Kings and were glad to know we only had about 2.5 miles left. We were all pretty tired by this point and stopped for a quick refuel of cliff bars and gardettos.
Last trail sign before Kings mt.
About a half of a mile after this sign we came to a steep part of the trail with a sheer drop off on one side. Luckily there was a rope there to help us get down.
Nevin rappelling down the trail
From here it wasn't long before we were making our last ascent up to the summit of Kings mt. and what to us symbolized the last of the hard scrambling and climbing. From here on out it was downhill and we still had 2 hours of daylight left.
Register box at Kings mt. summit
A wonderful view of the Oregon coast range
We finished the hike in a total of 5 and 3/4 hours, a solid 15 minutes faster than the book time. All three of us were glad to see the truck after a long day. We felt accomplished though, if you have summited a mountain or finished a all day hike than you know the feeling. If you haven't then I highly suggest finding your nearest beginners mountain and climbing it. Even though your legs will hate you and your lungs will have a hard time functioning when you get to the bottom there is no greater feeling.
So get out and hike today!!!!!
Always follow leave no trace principals when visiting the outdoors. We are all stewards of our environment and it's our responsibility to leave it better for the next hiker the next generation and even the next species.
Thanks for taking the time to look and read this!!!! Let me know in the comment section of your favorite hikes/mountains to visit!!!
!steemitworldmap 45.6 lat -123 long Elk & Kings mt. trailhead d3scr
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