King's Peak Conquered

Just got back from a great trip to King's Peak in the High Uintahs. King's Peak is the tallest mountain in Utah at 13,528 feet. Those last 1,500 are killer! Myself, along with my daughter Amanda, and sons Will and Stephen joined my brother Matt and his son Matthew and daughter Jessica in this trip of a lifetime.

I have been to the Peak 3 times before, all with Matt. Our first trip was in 1991 with dad, me, Mike, and Matt. Our brother Mark was on an LDS mission to Indiana at the time, so we went again the next year with him. The last time we went was in 2000 with Dad, me, Mike, Matt, Mark, and my sister Jill's husband, Vic.

This time was special, to be able to escort 3 of my kids to the top. I'm sure my oldest daughter Whitney would have loved to go, too, if not for work. Anyway, the 7 of us started hiking from Henry's Fork trailhead at about 3:15 Thursday afternoon. The weather was perfect, with a slight cooling breeze and occasional cloudiness. It's about 7.5 miles in, which is just long enough to feel way too long. Since fires are not permitted within 1000 feet of Dollar Lake or Henry's Fork Lake, we set up camp west of the trail between the two lakes. There is still plenty of Spring runoff, so water was not hard to come by, even though we were so far removed from the lakes. We got in to our camp around 7:30 pm and found some nice level spots for our 3 tents. We ate dinner, and climbed in to our sleeping bags, worn out from the long hike.

The next morning we took our time getting out of bed. The tall trees surrounding our tents kept the sunlight from waking us up too early. We ate a late breakfast at around 11:00, and then decided that since the weather was perfect and we all probably felt good enough, we should get ready and head for the Peak. We filled up everybody's Camelbaks with water we pumped from a nearby stream and headed out at about 1:15.

Matt and I decided it would be best to take the route up the chute to Anderson Pass, rather than taking the trail up to Gunsight pass. It is much shorter, and having done both, preferred that route. There's not really a trail across the valley to the bottom of the chute, so we kind of bushwhacked our way. There is a lot of brush along streams and where the Spring runoff flows. We avoided that because it is hard to get through, and there's no chance of getting through it dry.

It took us nearly 2 hours to scale the 1000 vertical feet of the chute. Some members of our party questioned whether or not they had the energy to make it to the summit. It was pretty grueling. I think maybe more than usual because there was still a lot of snow on the rocks, and where it had melted there was a residue of dirt that made everything slippery. But we all made it. From there we made the short (20 minute) hike over to Anderson Pass. All that was left to climb was the ridge up King's Peak. The air is thin and it can feel like you can't get enough oxygen. It makes you tired and weak. But we all finally made it to the peak at about 6:30 p.m. We stayed long enough to take in the beauty of the view in all directions, and to take a few pictures. Now the only challenge was to get down off the peak and back to camp before dark.

To make a long story short, about halfway down the chute is when complete darkness set in. Were it just Matt and I we wouldn't have been too worried. But we had our kids with us so we were just a little nervous. The longer it took, the colder it would become. Once we were all safely to the bottom of the chute, I asked everybody to remove their hats and we had a prayer. We prayed for guidance in leading us safely, quickly, and dryly (is that a word?) back to camp. It was a hike I will never forget. We only came to a couple of dead ends, but we quickly resolved those. I was glad Matt and I were as familiar with the area as we were, because I never felt lost or panicked. To make sure we didn't meet up with any animals, we made noise as we passed by the thick brush, or as we hiked through stands of pines. We stayed close together. The temperature dropped to somewhere in the 30s by the time we arrived in camp at 1:30 a.m. We were wearing only our t-shirts, and Will was wearing shorts. We were cold, hungry, and tired. Tired won, and we all went to bed having eaten oatmeal that morning for breakfast, and a few snacks along the way. But, oh! The accomplishment we all felt!

The next morning we slept in again. Who could blame us?! We took a vote, and for some insane reason decided to pack up camp and head home. So that's what we did. At 2:15 we hit the trail again. It was the easiest hike of the 3 hikes, despite Amanda and Matt's huge blisters on their feet. Ouch! We got dinner at our traditional spot -- the Mountain View Drive Inn in Mountain View, Wyoming at about 7:30. Then we drove as far as JCW's in Lehi for a soft serve ice cream cone, and then home. We surprised our families by getting home a day early. But we did the whole thing in a little over 48 hours. Our kids are amazing! I'm so proud of them. It's not an easy hike. And especially to hike almost 30 miles in that short of a time period, half of which with a backpack on!

I don't think any of us ever want to do it again. Then again, I think Matt and I said that after our first time. And our second. And our third...