Solitude on King-Castle

King Castle is a big rock that sticks up from Mckenzie River outside of Rainbow, OR. A small comms tower at the top spoils some of the views of Mt Washington and the Three Sisters covered in April snows. The trail is mostly used by MTB folks racing down the hill, but Tuesday April 22 I was the only human on the hill – perfect hiking solitude.

Along the way, moonset over the ridge forced me to stop for a photo

The Route

Started at King Castle TH around 6:15 with just enough light to see without headlamp. When I returned at 1:00, 2 other cars were in parking lot, but no humans. I went right up to King Castle top and then down to Forest Rd 2639 which was closed due to the logging activity – I turned around and went back to the top and then to the car.

Trail conditions were perfectly clean and soft. MTBs were definitely on the trail over weekend and several blowdowns were removed recently.

Looking around and out

From the top, the central cascades were too far away to touch or get good photos, but the ice on south Sister was a treat

Wildflowers were just starting to break out

Data Geek Corner

• Shoes: Altra Lone Peak WP boots
• Pack: Gossamer Fast Kumo 36
• Upper Layers: 2 (base layer, Patagonia mid-weight)
• Upper shell: none
• Trekking Poles: Yes – Gossamer Gear
• Approximate Times: 06:15 to 13:00
• Carbon ratio: 6 driving karma, 6 actual hiking time – 83.8 hours banked YTD
• Notes:
  • Photos: medium
  • Speed: medium
  • Difficulty: easy

All Trails