King's Peak Part 1 of 2 - Labor Day Weekend, 2015

King's Peak is the tallest mountain in Utah at 13,528 feet. The shortest journey to the summit is a 28 mile round trip hike jumping off from Henry's Fork Trailhead.

Our adventure started bright and early Saturday, September 5th. We got out of Park City around 6:30 AM and had to go North up through Wyoming before circling back into Utah.

The drive got prettier as we got closer - with some mean looking mountains looming in the distance.

We arrived at 9AM and were grateful for our beanies - there was a chill in the air. We left The Mighty CRV behind and loaded up our packs. Brian carrying 50lbs+ and Alecia clocking in around 40lbs.

The trail winded along a pretty creek and was not very steep - many flat parts combined with our hiking poles (BUY THEM IMMEDIATELY) and we were making quick time. A quick Cliff Bar break midway and within a couple hours we arrived at a flat meadow area, where the trail diverged.

It was beautiful and windy.

We got our first solid view of King's Peak, featured above Brian's head. We also had to cross a wooden bridge!

It was a couple more miles fighting the wind/gasping at the view across this meadow till we arrived at the start of the Base Camp. We found a spot and dropped off our bags. Walking after their removal was an unintentional springing forward with each step. We were free!

& it was beautiful at ~11,000 feet.

Our first order of business was setting up camp and filling up our water jugs. We had purchased a water filtration pump which was extremely cool but a lot slower than we anticipated...so we were lakeside for a bit at Dollar Lake.

The lake was only about a quarter mile from our campsite, and this view was only 50 yards or so.

Mandatory Cartwheel Pic

The weather was turning at a dime up this high, and we had to retreat to the tent multiple times. We trusted the safety of a couple trees for protection and were hunting for firewood when the weather allowed. It was picked fairly clean but we managed to find enough for our 1 night. Next time - bring a saw!

*drool*

Pretty quickly we realized that our intentions to make the summit were not going to happen. We were only camped 7-8 miles from the trail head which meant a 12 mile round trip journey to the summit. We were under the impression that we'd be able to camp closer to the summit (it was treeless and not going to happen) and also that the creek followed the trail for longer. We were hoping we'd be able to pump water until pretty close to the summit - with an 8 hour journey ahead of us we needed a LOT of water and only had a few liter capacity. I know, I know, we're newbs!

When the weather got too bad we comforted ourselves with some whiskey and Carcasonne and snuggled up in our new sleeping bags.

It just kept getting better. That evening was spent eating lots of nuts, jerky, and freeze-dried meals+boiling water. The Mountain America MREs were surprisingly good and the Cup O Noodles were a fantastic treat.

The next morning was bright blue and warmer, lacking the previous gusts of wind that had entertained our previous day. It would have been a great day for the summit...next time!