back to the woods
I finally got hiking again on Saturday, after a long hiking drought. I got out of the house around 7:15 and hit the Kings Mountain trailhead a little after eight.
There was a light mist falling from the sky, and as soon as I got out of the car I was enveloped in the pungent scent of the rain forest. I opted to take the shuttle hike along the Wilson River Trail first. It parallels the highway for 3 1/2 mostly flat miles before connecting into the Elk Mountain Trail, but I was already feeling like I'd been hiking for a bit by the time I hit that point. I hate being so out of shape. Anyway, from there it goes straight up the mountain, "gaining 1,900 feet elevation in 1.5 miles", as the brochure says. Ouch. I was dragging by the time I hit the false summit, let alone the real one a few hundred vertical feet later. To add to the mood, the fine mist had turned to a steady drizzle by the time I got to the summit. No views. Soaking wet.
I was about halfway into the loop, but the warnings of steep drop-offs and difficult trail almost convinced me to return the way I came. I decided to stick it out, though, and about halfway into the 3.5 mile hike around to the other peak the rain stopped and the sun chased most of the clouds away. The undergrowth was still plenty wet, but at least I had a gorgeous view of the coast range by the time I reached the summit of Kings Mountain. The steep drop-offs turned out to be largely irrelevant. The trail was steep with lots of loose dirt and gravel in places, but it was nothing compared to an Angel's Landing or a Knife's Edge. Even with the views (probably the best I've ever seen from the top of that perennially cloud-shrouded peak), I didn't linger too long at the top. I knew I'd have a quad-killing "2,546 foot elevation [loss] in 2.5 miles" to get back to the trailhead. It didn't disappoint.
I was rather amused by one vignette on the way down. At one point I ran into a couple hiking the other direction on the trail, and the woman asked me pointedly, "How close are we?" I replied that they were about halfway at that point (which was a fairly accurate guess), and she groaned a reply to the effect of "We've been hiking for HOW long now and we're only halfway?!?" I followed that up with the reply, "And it doesn't get any *less* steep." The guy she was with received the whole exchange with a bemused grin, which turned into somewhat devious laughter after my reply. I left them at that, and noticed that they kept going up (as far as I could tell).
I got back to the car and deposited the hiking staff I'd borrowed that morning, an old tree branch, next to the trail sign where I'd found it. Hopefully someone else will get good use from it, as well. I felt a little the worse for the wear, but glad for the hike. I really need to do this more often.
There was a light mist falling from the sky, and as soon as I got out of the car I was enveloped in the pungent scent of the rain forest. I opted to take the shuttle hike along the Wilson River Trail first. It parallels the highway for 3 1/2 mostly flat miles before connecting into the Elk Mountain Trail, but I was already feeling like I'd been hiking for a bit by the time I hit that point. I hate being so out of shape. Anyway, from there it goes straight up the mountain, "gaining 1,900 feet elevation in 1.5 miles", as the brochure says. Ouch. I was dragging by the time I hit the false summit, let alone the real one a few hundred vertical feet later. To add to the mood, the fine mist had turned to a steady drizzle by the time I got to the summit. No views. Soaking wet.
I was about halfway into the loop, but the warnings of steep drop-offs and difficult trail almost convinced me to return the way I came. I decided to stick it out, though, and about halfway into the 3.5 mile hike around to the other peak the rain stopped and the sun chased most of the clouds away. The undergrowth was still plenty wet, but at least I had a gorgeous view of the coast range by the time I reached the summit of Kings Mountain. The steep drop-offs turned out to be largely irrelevant. The trail was steep with lots of loose dirt and gravel in places, but it was nothing compared to an Angel's Landing or a Knife's Edge. Even with the views (probably the best I've ever seen from the top of that perennially cloud-shrouded peak), I didn't linger too long at the top. I knew I'd have a quad-killing "2,546 foot elevation [loss] in 2.5 miles" to get back to the trailhead. It didn't disappoint.
I was rather amused by one vignette on the way down. At one point I ran into a couple hiking the other direction on the trail, and the woman asked me pointedly, "How close are we?" I replied that they were about halfway at that point (which was a fairly accurate guess), and she groaned a reply to the effect of "We've been hiking for HOW long now and we're only halfway?!?" I followed that up with the reply, "And it doesn't get any *less* steep." The guy she was with received the whole exchange with a bemused grin, which turned into somewhat devious laughter after my reply. I left them at that, and noticed that they kept going up (as far as I could tell).
I got back to the car and deposited the hiking staff I'd borrowed that morning, an old tree branch, next to the trail sign where I'd found it. Hopefully someone else will get good use from it, as well. I felt a little the worse for the wear, but glad for the hike. I really need to do this more often.