The original plan for this weekend was Cairn Basin up in Mt Hood but due to snow, again, I had to change my plans. I decided on a trail on the Oregon coast that looked really nice on paper. Don’t get me wrong, it is, but it’s also the hardest that I have ever done. With the information I had, I knew there where a couple of possibilities all starting from the same trail head. One was going up on the Elk Mountain Trail and coming back down on the Elk Creek trail. The other, much larger option was to continue to Kings Mountain and back down to the Wilson River Trail. All these trails are in a wilderness area in the Tillamook County. At the end, I started on the Elk Mountain trail and waited until I got to the intersection to make a decision whether to continue to Kings Mountain or go back down on the Elk Creek trail. The trail started in a very dense forest with a steep climb that I thought wouldn’t last long. I was very wrong. The first part of the trail, a bit over a mile and a half, is a very steep ascending from 900’ to about 2700’. Views are incredible all the way thru until you get to a false summit with a sign that says 2500’. From there the trail descends abruptly only to come back up to the real summit at which point you tongue is reaching you belly. Even with a cloudy day, as you’ll see in the pictures, it was a fantastic view. From the Summit I still had to go 2 miles to reach the intersection where I could decide to continue or go back. I though that since I was at the summit, there was no more going up… wrong again. That couples of miles are like a roller coaster, it goes up and down abruptly. Most of this portion of the trail you find yourself either jumping a couple of feet down or climbing a rock that required bringing your knees to your chest. I felt really out of shape when a group of three trail runners passed me running in the opposite direction wearing their tight Spandex. Finally I made it to the intersection and stopped for lunch. A couple of hikers I meet in the way recommended me not doing Kings because it was already late to complete the loop from where I was, so I took the Elk Creek trail back. The hike back was not as difficult although equally steep. The trail follows and old logging road next to the creek al the way down back to the parking lot. I found a lot of washed out portions and the creek itself had lot debris, trees and rocks. It was very interesting and a great hike, although I’m still feeling the consequences.
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