On March 28, 2010 I went for a hike near Portland with Mike Vermeulen. Looking in his hiking book I wanted to do something west of Portland, since that would be a new area for me, and Kings Mountain jumped out right away as a short, steep hike, just the kind I like. Also I have a fondness for the name since Kings Mountain in the Bay Area is the first mountain I bicycled up.
It was a rainy day, so nice prototypical Portland weather. Mostly the rain was light, and it was very pleasant to hike in. The trail starts at 700 feet and climbs to the summit (3226 feet) in 2.5 miles, so you're gaining 1000 feet/mile, considerably steeper than Mission Peak for example (which gains 2100 feet in 3 miles).
What's more there are a surprising number of flat sections, so some of the steep parts are really steep! The trail is superb quality, as you can see, and the forest duff kept it from getting too muddy in the rain. Even the steep sections were fairly secure.
Most of the hike is in the forest, and I wasn't sure if there would be any view at all. One reason I chose the hike was that it didn't seem to be a view hike, since I figured with the bad weather there would be no view anyway. I was right about the second half of that sentence.
Near the top you finally start getting out of the trees, and sense the summit is approaching but it still takes longer than you expect.
Getting closer; another false summit.
The final ridge to the summit.
The summit with a very high quality box and register. I signed it for us.
It turns out there actually would have been terrific views, both of the ocean to the west and Mount Hood to the east, had we been able to see anything but fog.
Mike moved to Oregon about a year ago and this is his first Oregon summit! He has many in his home state of Colorado.
This is my second Oregon summit; the first being Mount Hood last summer.
On the way down we had to be careful as it was getting muddier and slicker. I nearly slipped twice but managed to catch myself. The vegetation changes as you go up; near the bottom the trees are covered with moss.
Nearing the trailhead. My favorite picture of the hike.
Here's our route recorded with my GPS watch. As with other very steep hikes it underestimated the distance. A wonderful hike and in perfect weather! It wouldn't have been nearly as fun without the rain.
