Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

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Sean Thomas
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Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by Sean Thomas » January 25th, 2015, 11:28 pm

Have you heard of the new space ship ride from the Moon to Kings Mountain!?! :P ... Ok ok not one of "those" TR's again :D :roll: But it kinda felt like starting on the moon when I set out for an Elk Mountain/Kings Mountain Loop via the other end of the Wilson River Trail at Keenig Creek, about 20 miles away. Starting on the moon was interesting(i thought it wasnt gonna be one of those tr's? too late :twisted: ) as it isn't made of cheese but some rock stuff that didn't taste like cheese at all(the brochures are all lies). I have no idea how I got there, but im pretty sure I started on the moon, about 238,900 miles away from Kings Mountain as there is no place on earth that could have felt so far away :D Ok so it wasn't that bad ;) but it was a fun challenge that made for a great day on the trails. Starting at Keenig Creek a little before sunrise at about 6:45 a.m. with a nice sunrise on the trek over to Wolf Creek:


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Down at Wolf Creek around mile 5 and the passengers were starting to worry if the ship was broken. Going 3-5mph and that remaining 238, 895 miles might take a few days. But the captain reassured that anything was possible if one truly believes in something :)


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Nearing the Footbridge TH and we could see Kings Mountain through the trees:


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Wilson Falls on the way to Jones Creek:


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Next stop was a quick break at the Forest Center half way between the moon and kings and the awesome bridge over the Wilson River:


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The passengers had pretty much given up all hope at this point:


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There were no other noisy spaceships at Diamond Mill so we stopped shortly to refuel. The river is very pretty up there, here's a pano of the North Fork Wilson River:


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Looking upstream:


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Some of the rarely seen moon forest on the way over to the Kings TH:


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Lester Creek:


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We encountered our first space aliens near the Kings Jr junction:


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Down at the Kings TH for a pit stop to refuel the ship after about 17 1/2 miles. Only 238, 882 and 1/2 miles to go :)


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The 3 1/2 miles over to the Elk Mtn junction went well as the ship flubbed and derped its way onward, tossing a little friendly turbulence at the remaining guests in the form of a few hearty belches and a little space gas :shock: :? :D Pulling the plug on the ships mother board seemed the only option as it began to sputter out of control on the lowly slopes of Elk Mountain. Before the captain made the final decision to turn the ship around a small voice cried out from the back of the cabin, "don't give up" and with that the ship took off up the mountain and reached the top in 40 minutes:


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The traverse over to Kings was the most fun part of the day as the morale of the guests changed and all of a sudden anything seemed possible:


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Soaked to the bone on top of Kings and not a view to be had(locals and other space enthusiasts often argue about the views from the top, some say you can see the indian ocean, the voodoo donuts line and even uranus on a clear day). But fancy donuts and far away anuses aside it was amazing to know we had made it so far. Now it was just time to fly back to the moon, only 238,900 more miles to go:


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Dropping off Kings and the trip down to Kings Jr/ the Wilson River Trail with a little wonkiness settling in:


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Back on the fast track down to Diamond Mill and it was like stepping out of a blender after several miles on the more rugged sections of trail. Not only the terrain, but the weather was much less harsh in the lower valleys as well making for a great run down to Diamond Mill and Lester Creek Falls:


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I mixed up a little it of the trail and the road down to Jones Creek to shorten/ease things up a bit:


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Reaching Jones Creek before dark was the goal and with about 20 minutes of light left the ship roared on back to Keenig, or the moon, not sure at this point:


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In my looned up state I started slipping in the mud puddles that had formed in the trail throughout the day. Nothing like a little mid-winter tribal mud dancing above Wolf Creek to close out a long day in the mountains :D Bonking in back to Keenig Creek a little before 7:30 and I had smashed my goal of 14-1/2 to 15 hours. For some reason I had it in my head directly after that the math came out to a little under 12 hours :roll: so I was bragging that up until Joie had to be a smarty pants and remind me that I'm still slow :D bringing me back to earth(get it) :lol: :roll: Anyway, I ended up forgetting some of the stuff I had stahsed near the Kings TH before even starting the hike so Jojo and the pups helped drag my limp body around the coast range the next day to pick up the various items left about :lol: Well there was just a bag at Kings to pick up and a coat near Elk mtn but it felt like another trip to the moon and back :D


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The next morning we drove down to the coast to have lunch with my brother who lives in Astoria. Before lunch Jo and I took the pups again and stopped at Chapman Beach and another quick trip to visit the amazing Arcadia Cedar. Sunrise from Les Shirley Park:


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Jack gets pretty intense for a tennis ball when on the beach:


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Nemo just gets hyped for potential treats:


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And a quick jump in the ocean with some saggy guy icing his feet in the background:


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After the beach we headed for the Arcadia Cedar, where the Lady of Arcadia was standing next to her favorite tree:


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And the often overlooked tree that lives next to "the" tree to close out the TR:


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payslee

Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by payslee » January 26th, 2015, 4:32 pm

Amazing sunrise shot!

Also, now I want to go to the beach and have tennis balls AND snacks.

-payslee

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Eric Peterson
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by Eric Peterson » January 26th, 2015, 8:00 pm

Heh, being the light weight I've turned into these days - I would have gone up Coronary and done
the traverse the opposite way you went. I would need a space shuttle down at the Elk road gate just
in case I totally derp sagged out at that point though :D

Nice TR!

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Sean Thomas
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by Sean Thomas » January 26th, 2015, 8:21 pm

payslee wrote:Amazing sunrise shot!

Also, now I want to go to the beach and have tennis balls AND snacks.

-payslee

Thanks payslee, taking the pups to the beach is one of my all time favorite things to do :)

Eric Peterson wrote:Heh, being the light weight I've turned into these days - I would have gone up Coronary and done
the traverse the opposite way you went. I would need a space shuttle down at the Elk road gate just
in case I totally derp sagged out at that point though :D

Nice TR!

Derp shuttle! :D Gotta love dreaming of those imaginary modes of transportation when you're bonking out :)


And dood you'll never be a LW in the hiking world with all the things you've done! arent you and crus and chase like 6'6" and 3/4 inches tall too :D :roll:

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CraigG
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by CraigG » January 27th, 2015, 11:13 pm

Awesome shots of all! Well done! Rigby the dog has to meet your canine crew someday! Rigby is "all in" for tennis balls and treats!

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Sean Thomas
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by Sean Thomas » January 28th, 2015, 7:00 pm

Thanks, Craig :) Rigby looks like an awesome dog and has been to some really amazing places :)

Actually my greyhound would enjoy meeting him the most, he loves other dogs :) Of the rat pack(or the 3 stooges) Bert and Nemo like other dogs too leaving Jack the unsocial one. He's sort of like a cat, climbs on things(fences/trees) and keeps to himself :lol:

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Eric Peterson
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by Eric Peterson » January 28th, 2015, 7:35 pm

Next up: 6 Defiances!!

Derp shuttle standing by :D

greenjello85
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by greenjello85 » January 28th, 2015, 8:37 pm

Wow Sean! I'm always amazed at how much distance some of you people cover in a day. I love the sunrise pic and the one of the dogs on the beach. I have to go visit that cedar sometime. Whenever I'm starting to gas out on a trail, I think, What would Sean do? and drag my rear up the next hill! :lol:
~Dan

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Crusak
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Re: Elk Mountain- Kings Mountain Loop from the Moon: 1-24-15

Post by Crusak » January 28th, 2015, 10:23 pm

That's a heck of a hike. Combining a long trek on the WRT with a Kings/Elk loop sounds like a great loony hike for sure.

How was the WRT between Keenig Creek and the Diamond Mill Bridge? I remember reading on the TSF site that part of that trail was damaged due to landslides.
Jim's Hikes

Solvitur Ambulando

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