Elk Kings Loop…
Always a good winter conditioner. Sunday was no exception, although a bit messier and slower than we’d like. The fresh snowfall on all the branches and shrubs along the trail were kind of a PITA… We packed our snowshoes for the higher elevation, but didn’t need them up to Kings because there had been several others breaking trail earlier…but on the other side of Kings, the tracks stopped. Definitely needed snowshoes. From there, through the traverse, and over to Elk Mtn, the snow was deep with heavy. Normally this loop takes us a comfortable 5-6 hours…today it took us 8.5 hours. The deep snow really slowed us down, although the scenery was definitely worth the misery.
No precip fell on us from the sky, but lots fell on us as we navigated the many overhanging branches and shrubs.
Fun shit!!
Trailhead at 8:00am…
We decided to go straight and do this loop clock-wise…
My trekking poles took beating, beating off the snow from the overhanging branches…
Heading up the trail to Kings Mountain. A bit colder now at about 2500’…
Deeper snow as we get closer to the summit of Kings. Others had broke trail so we didn’t need the snowshoes…
Summit of Kings Mountain…
Nobody has been back here so we broke trail over to Elk Mountain…
The snow was deep and heavy along the traverse…
Oh good, she’s still smiling 🙂
Anyone that’s been on the traverse knows about the rope section. Well, climbing that spot is not that easy in snowshoes…
Looking back down the rope section. If you zoom in, you can see the rope…
Following what looks like Coyote tracks…
Looking back over at Kings Mountain…
Catwalk section…fun in the snow…
Deb coming up the final scramble up Elk Mountain…
Elk Mountain Summit…
We did the loop clockwise, starting at Elk Mtn trailhead…
