Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon when the weather has switched from standard Oregon grey season to spring. Always enjoyable to see new hikers/climbers earning the summits.
Couldn't have asked for better weather: temperatures in the mid-70s and not a cloud in the sky. I've done Elk and Kings separately before, but this was my first time for the combination.
I've done this a couple of times this year. Nice training hike for a weekend morning or after work. Great weather, but a bit hot. R/T in about 4 hours starting a Kings trailhead and going up Elk first.
Hard rain for 5.5 hours. Windy at the top of Kings. I used my snowshoes on the road portion of the traverse. The back side of the traverse was in OK shape. There was enough snow to kick safe steps the whole way. I was surprised at the number of downed trees over the trail...Zero! The route was clean.
The word of the day...? "SATURATION"
Started at Kings Mt. trailhead, took Wilson River trail to Elk and up. Fun times on the steep bits, RT time around 6 hours. Weather was decent, a bit chilly above 2500 feet but just a few light sprinkles. Good times.
Beautiful day. The calm after the storm. Trail in “ok” shape after recent storms. Some downed trees but no real trail damage. 6-8” new powder. The snow won’t stick around without additional.
Actually, we did this as Kings->Elk traverse because I wanted to get all the uphill work done at the start. From the top of Kings Mtn, it's mostly a downhill spiral over to Elks & down.
The traverse is in decent shape right now. There is a little snow on the trail on the North side of the traverse right now making the steep sections a little tricky. Not much of a problem as long as you keep your wits about you and kick solid steps.