Anja and I tackled a hike today that's been on my list for a while: the Elk Mountain to Kings Mountain loop. It's really, really steep, rising 1900 feet in 1.5 miles to the peak of Elk Mountain, then traversing for a few miles before rising again to the summit of Kings Mountain. And then you drop back down 2500 feet in 2.5 miles, before once again traversing (mostly uphill) 3.5 miles back along the Wilson River trail to the parking lot at Elk Creek. About 11 miles altogether; it took us just over 6 hours. But I've never been on a trail as steep as that first 1.5 miles -- just constantly straight up, holding onto rocks and roots -- it felt like the longest mile I've ever walked!
There was not a lot to see from the summits -- just the forests of the Tillamook range -- but the wildflowers were out -- paintbrush and beargrass, camas and violets, bleeding hearts, and even some very late trilliums. Between the summits there was some scrambling, including one section where we had to hold onto a rope to get down a chute. That was pretty fun. All in all, an excellent day.
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