King's Mountain (3/19/11)

Brad's helping out a climbing buddy by assisting his Mazamas BCEP class. Saturday was the first outing, a hike up King's Mountain in the Coast Range. James let me tag along as an honorary assistant and group photographer.

We were expecting lots of rain, but it actually stayed dry the whole time (minus a few small snowflakes near the top).
There was a ton of snow when we reached the summit at 3,226 feet:
What a fun group of students, leaders and assistants!
Check out the amazing view behind us. Totally socked in:
(You can see what the view is supposed to be from our New Year's Day hike with Doug and James)

The trail is steep but short, gaining 2,780 feet in 2.7 miles. The path was in good shape, though fallen tress did block the way a couple times. And deep snow near the summit forced us to slow a bit. Luckily there were nice steps along the way. The group took an easy pace (including some breaks for instruction, clothes stripping and fueling) and reached the top in 1:45.

We rested up, passed around snacks (including hot soup from assistant Suzi!) and snapped some pictures before heading downhill. Everyone made it up and down, and I think that a good time was had by all!

:)