Kings Mountain in Tillamook State Forest (Oregon)

Yesterday we continued our training for our Grand Canyon hike in 2 weeks by taking on the Kings Mountain. In the old days, there would be an annual race to the top and whoever made it first, and threw down any challengers would be named King of the Mountain. Very literal naming by the olden days peeps, also, probs not true... or maybe, it should be why it's called Kings Mountain.

We thought we were going on a 9 mile circular hike because I read this post but we must have gone a different way... but that's cool because we were excited a Difficult Trail, and ho boy, that's what we got.

I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I just can't get over how green Oregon is... it blows my mind... we were actually walking in the full on rain, but we hardly felt it because of the tree cover above. Oregon is like, really good at trees. Like, I think it might be it's best skill!

Ahhhhhh, and then ah, this is where we should have Instagrammed the trail or something, because, ah, how could two Aussies ever expect they would walk up a mountain into snow. We'd only been walking an hour or so (admittedly straight up, the elevation was easily a kilometer by this point)... but still, what's with snow being on trails? Still, I was super excited to see it until we bumped into some super nice Canadians who said it was knee deep at the summit.

This photo (below) is so weird me... I know it's just some trees... and I've already chucked in a bunch of trees, but it was the complete nothingness past those trees that got me. We were well and truly up in the clouds, and the whole rest of the world ceased to exist. Ah, apologies to anyone that had any wars or anything you needed some ninja help with... you just didn't exist at that point, nothing personal.

Soooooooooooooooooooo, this was the last photo (below) I took before we turned back.
We were not Kings. Not this time.

I didn't get any photos of the treacherous sections because I was trying not to crash a camera or die... in true dude fashion my priorities were; lil wooza, camera, own life... clearly I've learnt nothing from all those airline safety videos.

My partner was absolutely struggling with her footing in the snow... there were some scrambly sections, which were covered in snow and she was not looking real ninja goat. I was fine, but the snow was ankle deep and I was wearing tracky daks which we getting a bit soaked.

Turning around was a great call, because the trek down was mega hardcore.

We were super jelly legs within minutes... and once we got clear of the snow we started to jog down, which helped with the quad pain, but at that elevation was tough... tough and fun.

We are both reasonably fit, but our legs were absolutely destroyed by the end... we couldn't wait to find the car again. We somehow both developed knee troubles, the jogging down meant we tackled tricky areas really quick, so we were twisting all the different ways... guess are knees just aren't the party animals we thought they were.

Once we got back to the car... all our aches and pains melted away.
Even though we didn't get to the top, it was such a brilliant hike and I honestly can't wait to tackle it again. We'll be stronger and more prepared new time... and it is going to be absolutely sensational in summer.

13/10 Would King Again.

For the lovers of the hiking/photography combo, how do you carry your camera? My guy is a bit of a heavy boofster, and kept swinging and banging into me when hung around my neck, and wasn't so easy access when worn like a man bag (around neck and shoulder)... is there like a bumbag/fannypack thing designed for cameras? I'd love a way to strap it to my hip but with super quick easy access...