A big one. I was especially proud of my 6 year old brother who summitted with the family, without complaints.
On our descent to the saddle, storm clouds swept in out of nowhere. Two young guys were on the way up, and we were somewhat concerned. Two days later, while hiking out in the hail, they caught up w/us and told us the amazing story of how one of them got struck by lightning just below the summit. He had 3rd degree burns down his back. Took him quite awhile to slowly come to his senses and have enough energy to get off the mtn. They had seen our base camp on the way up, and were counting on resting in our tents, but unfortunately for them, we had packed up immediately in the rain and headed out.
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork/Gunsight Pass Date Climbed: September 12-13, 2003
My brother and I ventured out the weekend after the first Uinta snowstorm of the fall season. I was saddened that I didn't bring a celebratory beer to drink after coming back (like the group that just arrived back to the TH did). Dollar lake had quite a few people there already. No big deal... I had my picture taken with a pack llama that had helped a group coming in around 7pm. Very cool!
A chilly night (~18F), and we were off by 7AM. Made Gunsight pass, went through Painter Basin, were in awe by its beauty...got up about 1/2 mile from Anderson Pass and just went straight up the hillside towards the North Kings ridge. Got to the top, took a picture with my shirt off to feel all cool. Admired the views, considered decending the Anderson Pass shortcut, went back into Painter Basin instead. The regular Painter basin/Gunsight way is loong. Thought about napping, but packed up camp and got back to the trailhead near 9PM.
I reached SLC after midnight, and then found out my brother was missing his camera. I drove back to the TH at 5AM , found the camera next to our parking space, and came back on UT 150 to visit the Wasatch Co highpoint in my PJs. A lot of sheep on UT 150...
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork/Gunsight Pass Date Climbed: September 16-17, 2004
Started out at about 6pm,saw very many moose (bull, cows, calfs), and had dinner by Dollar Lake near 11PM (realized I forgot outer jacket). Warm night (~40F), and left camp early in the morning. Successfully called in sick at 9:45AM on gunsight pass after repeated attempts. We didn't see any people until we were 15 minutes from the top. Surprise! They were state highpointers. I must have impressed them with my county highpointing knowledge =). Then, they proceeded to boast about bagging a couple of other thirteeners on their way back to camp. =( I became jealous.
Great weather the whole way- we were back down after unsuccessfully looking for the Gunsight shortcut, and to the car by 8:00PM and near total darkness.
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Trailhead Date Climbed: 26 September 2003
Exhausting day after a summit of nearby Gilbert Peak. Climb is similar with large boulders you must crawl over. Went up the rockslide insdead of through the pass. Much more fun to come down that way than to go up. Heard and saw many rocks fall while we were there. Clear day, could see smoke from fires to the south.
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Stream Date Climbed: August 27, 2004
I loved this place. I stayed 3 days and nights. Came down "the toilet bowl" from Anderson Pass, this is certainly a quick way up or down, though a bit uninteresting as a round trip. Lots of sheep. No register at the top, OK- I didn't see it.
Route Climbed: Dollar Lake--Gunsight Pass Date Climbed: July 14, 2004
We lost our Canon video camcorder in the boulder field/meadow, right after we summited Kings Peak. Lightning and thunder chased us off Utah's highest peak. Rain and hail humbled us as we hid in between boulders from the loud electricity. If anyone finds our camcorder please contact Matt or Liz at (509)868-2299 or (509)879-9390. We'll pay a reward of $150. Thanks.
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Date Climbed: 7/97 7/98 8/03
This is a great hike. I have had altitude sickness twice and it was not fun at all. 8/03 Did the hike with reporters from the Deseret news. Had extreme AMS on the summit and had to abort attempt at Utahs highest three peaks in one day. The descent was very difficult and I threw up several times. It took longer to get down than it did going up. Ravell and Craig pushed on and were able to climb South Kings and Gilbert to make the highest three in one day.
-Climbed Kings for the 4th time in July 05 with Craig Lloyd. Also did West Gunsight (See trip report)
-8/5/08 Climbed Kings in one day from the trailhead and back. It was a perfect day with excellent weather. We started at 3:30 AM and were on the summit before 10:00. We spent an hour on top and took our time on the way out and we reached the trailhead 4:37 PM. This was my 5th time on top. (see trip report)
- 9/4/09 Day hike. We made great time to Anderson Pass and then the lack of sleep caught up with me (1:15). I was very slow up to the summit. The clouds were building, so any thought of South Kings was out. My knee was really hurting on the way out, so it was a little slow, but we had a great time and the weather held until we were almost at Elk Horn. We had a great day, but the drive home was the WORST! I was exhausted. 6th time on the summit. I'll be back. To see a video of what altitude, 12+ miles and an hour of sleep can do to the human body, check this video out that I took as I made it to the summit: http://www.youtube.com/user/Utah13ers#p/a/u/0/PQVbEgNrJC4
7/15/10- Ran/hiked to the summit from Henry's Fork in 4:50 (PR). A little over 10 hours RT. Had a great time, but I was wrecked. 7th time to the summit.
8/21/10- Quest for Kings marathon. Made it to the top in 3:50 (PR) and RT 8:29. What a fun day. 8th summit.
8/13/11- With MattV and Josh. Started at 10:45 pm. Summited at 3:30 am and puked on top. Wanted to do a double, but didn't have time. 9th summit of King's.
8/11/12- Triple Crown (highest 3 peaks in Utah) in 13 hours car to car with Josh Greenwell. We started in wet conditions in the dark and it slowed us down a lot. Summited Kings in 3:55 and then cruised over and tagged S. Kings. I took a tough fall on the saddle on the return trip over Kings. We ran back over the Gunsight plateau with our crew (they were running the Quest 4 Kings marathon) and reached the base of Gilbert in 7:30. We went up the chute and filled up in the spring. At the top of the chute we got blasted by the wind the rest of the way up to Gilbert and it took the steam right out of me. The descent and run out was a death march.
8/16/15- With Craig Lloyd, Matt Williams, Tara Summers and Nate Younger. Summited in 3:39. Also hit Henry's Fork Peak.
8/12/16- With a large group from the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers. 12th time on top.
8/12/17- Quest4Kings with the WMW. 13th summit.
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork via Anderson Pass Date Climbed: August 2000
Camped at Dollar lake in the basin, and reached the top the next day. Great hike, but lots of people! I'll bet there were 30 people on top the day we reached it! Came down the scree chute on the way back to camp. Saves about 3 miles. going back this summer from the Kidney Lakes.
Climbed as a boy scout at age 12... What I remember most is that my parents wouldn't buy me any treats.. .I survived on the food the scout master set us up with. A lot of Cracked Wheat and Fish was consumed durring that 4 days!
Route Climbed: Henrys Fork Date Climbed: June 12, 2003
Took my 5 year old boy on this trip. The only part I helped him with was the river crossing. We stayed the night. Hit the trail and made it to anderson pass and turned around due to lighting with 9 hours of rain and snow none stop. Went home after that. we will try again he says.
Route Climbed: Henrys Fork - Anderson Pass Shute Date Climbed: May 01 2002
Did the trip in a three day outting. Took the shute up to Anderson pass. Snow was soft and deep so scrambling the rocks was the best place to get traction. Had good weather, except for the snow and rain that fell for a hour while on South Kings.
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Date Climbed: September 2000
This mountain is not best done by a day hike, but our schedule required it. We began early and enjoyed the trail, but the approach is very long. We followed the trail up over Gunsight Pass and around to Anderson Pass, reaching the summit in the very early afternoon. Clouds were threatening, so we elected to descend the talus slope northeast of Anderson Pass down into Henry's Fork. This shaved off several miles and quite a lot of time, but we still arrived at the car after dark. I would like to camp next time.
Nate D - Feb 28, 2005 4:49 pm
Route Climbed: Date Climbed: 1986A big one. I was especially proud of my 6 year old brother who summitted with the family, without complaints.
On our descent to the saddle, storm clouds swept in out of nowhere. Two young guys were on the way up, and we were somewhat concerned. Two days later, while hiking out in the hail, they caught up w/us and told us the amazing story of how one of them got struck by lightning just below the summit. He had 3rd degree burns down his back. Took him quite awhile to slowly come to his senses and have enough energy to get off the mtn. They had seen our base camp on the way up, and were counting on resting in our tents, but unfortunately for them, we had packed up immediately in the rain and headed out.
Wild, but true.
nebben - Feb 11, 2005 5:54 pm
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork/Gunsight Pass Date Climbed: September 12-13, 2003My brother and I ventured out the weekend after the first Uinta snowstorm of the fall season. I was saddened that I didn't bring a celebratory beer to drink after coming back (like the group that just arrived back to the TH did). Dollar lake had quite a few people there already. No big deal... I had my picture taken with a pack llama that had helped a group coming in around 7pm. Very cool!
A chilly night (~18F), and we were off by 7AM. Made Gunsight pass, went through Painter Basin, were in awe by its beauty...got up about 1/2 mile from Anderson Pass and just went straight up the hillside towards the North Kings ridge. Got to the top, took a picture with my shirt off to feel all cool. Admired the views, considered decending the Anderson Pass shortcut, went back into Painter Basin instead. The regular Painter basin/Gunsight way is loong. Thought about napping, but packed up camp and got back to the trailhead near 9PM.
I reached SLC after midnight, and then found out my brother was missing his camera. I drove back to the TH at 5AM , found the camera next to our parking space, and came back on UT 150 to visit the Wasatch Co highpoint in my PJs. A lot of sheep on UT 150...
nebben - Feb 11, 2005 5:46 pm
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork/Gunsight Pass Date Climbed: September 16-17, 2004Started out at about 6pm,saw very many moose (bull, cows, calfs), and had dinner by Dollar Lake near 11PM (realized I forgot outer jacket). Warm night (~40F), and left camp early in the morning. Successfully called in sick at 9:45AM on gunsight pass after repeated attempts. We didn't see any people until we were 15 minutes from the top. Surprise! They were state highpointers. I must have impressed them with my county highpointing knowledge =). Then, they proceeded to boast about bagging a couple of other thirteeners on their way back to camp. =( I became jealous.
Great weather the whole way- we were back down after unsuccessfully looking for the Gunsight shortcut, and to the car by 8:00PM and near total darkness.
Andinistaloco - Jan 8, 2005 1:47 am
Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: Summer '96Fun hike and climb - wish I'd taken more time to explore the area! Saw some moose and other wildlife, including about 3,245,204 mosquitos....
marauders - Dec 23, 2004 1:26 am
Route Climbed: Henrys Fork Route Date Climbed: June 1996Long, but enjoyable hike. Take a few days to slow down and enjoy this one. Great summit with awesome views.
sheldonjr - Oct 18, 2004 9:38 pm
Route Climbed: Anderson Pass Date Climbed: July, 1999I haven't tried the other routes, but I'd recommend this one anyway.
craghag - Oct 7, 2004 11:08 am
Route Climbed: gunsight pass Date Climbed: July 29,2000My number two peak. A college girl hurled on the summit. The altitude was a challenge.
Nyle Walton - Mar 24, 2012 6:58 am
Re: Route Climbed: gunsight pass Date Climbed: July 29,2000Why don't you try something really challenging like the Grand Teton? Kings Peak is so unimpressive that it gets lost among all the nearby hills.
ecallahan - Oct 5, 2004 6:36 pm
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Trailhead Date Climbed: 26 September 2003Exhausting day after a summit of nearby Gilbert Peak. Climb is similar with large boulders you must crawl over. Went up the rockslide insdead of through the pass. Much more fun to come down that way than to go up. Heard and saw many rocks fall while we were there. Clear day, could see smoke from fires to the south.
woodstrider - Sep 8, 2004 5:17 pm
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Stream Date Climbed: August 27, 2004I loved this place. I stayed 3 days and nights. Came down "the toilet bowl" from Anderson Pass, this is certainly a quick way up or down, though a bit uninteresting as a round trip. Lots of sheep. No register at the top, OK- I didn't see it.
matthewz314 - Jul 21, 2004 2:45 pm
Route Climbed: Dollar Lake--Gunsight Pass Date Climbed: July 14, 2004We lost our Canon video camcorder in the boulder field/meadow, right after we summited Kings Peak. Lightning and thunder chased us off Utah's highest peak. Rain and hail humbled us as we hid in between boulders from the loud electricity. If anyone finds our camcorder please contact Matt or Liz at (509)868-2299 or (509)879-9390. We'll pay a reward of $150. Thanks.
Scott Wesemann - Jun 10, 2004 1:45 am
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Date Climbed: 7/97 7/98 8/03This is a great hike. I have had altitude sickness twice and it was not fun at all. 8/03 Did the hike with reporters from the Deseret news. Had extreme AMS on the summit and had to abort attempt at Utahs highest three peaks in one day. The descent was very difficult and I threw up several times. It took longer to get down than it did going up. Ravell and Craig pushed on and were able to climb South Kings and Gilbert to make the highest three in one day.
-Climbed Kings for the 4th time in July 05 with Craig Lloyd. Also did West Gunsight (See trip report)
-8/5/08 Climbed Kings in one day from the trailhead and back. It was a perfect day with excellent weather. We started at 3:30 AM and were on the summit before 10:00. We spent an hour on top and took our time on the way out and we reached the trailhead 4:37 PM. This was my 5th time on top. (see trip report)
- 9/4/09 Day hike. We made great time to Anderson Pass and then the lack of sleep caught up with me (1:15). I was very slow up to the summit. The clouds were building, so any thought of South Kings was out. My knee was really hurting on the way out, so it was a little slow, but we had a great time and the weather held until we were almost at Elk Horn. We had a great day, but the drive home was the WORST! I was exhausted. 6th time on the summit. I'll be back. To see a video of what altitude, 12+ miles and an hour of sleep can do to the human body, check this video out that I took as I made it to the summit: http://www.youtube.com/user/Utah13ers#p/a/u/0/PQVbEgNrJC4
7/15/10- Ran/hiked to the summit from Henry's Fork in 4:50 (PR). A little over 10 hours RT. Had a great time, but I was wrecked. 7th time to the summit.
8/21/10- Quest for Kings marathon. Made it to the top in 3:50 (PR) and RT 8:29. What a fun day. 8th summit.
8/13/11- With MattV and Josh. Started at 10:45 pm. Summited at 3:30 am and puked on top. Wanted to do a double, but didn't have time. 9th summit of King's.
8/11/12- Triple Crown (highest 3 peaks in Utah) in 13 hours car to car with Josh Greenwell. We started in wet conditions in the dark and it slowed us down a lot. Summited Kings in 3:55 and then cruised over and tagged S. Kings. I took a tough fall on the saddle on the return trip over Kings. We ran back over the Gunsight plateau with our crew (they were running the Quest 4 Kings marathon) and reached the base of Gilbert in 7:30. We went up the chute and filled up in the spring. At the top of the chute we got blasted by the wind the rest of the way up to Gilbert and it took the steam right out of me. The descent and run out was a death march.
8/16/15- With Craig Lloyd, Matt Williams, Tara Summers and Nate Younger. Summited in 3:39. Also hit Henry's Fork Peak.
8/12/16- With a large group from the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers. 12th time on top.
8/12/17- Quest4Kings with the WMW. 13th summit.
jaydee - Mar 12, 2004 12:19 am
Route Climbed: Anderson Pass Date Climbed: September 1970Nice trip from West Fork Blacks Fork
imontop - Dec 19, 2003 10:08 pm
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork via Anderson Pass Date Climbed: August 2000Camped at Dollar lake in the basin, and reached the top the next day. Great hike, but lots of people! I'll bet there were 30 people on top the day we reached it! Came down the scree chute on the way back to camp. Saves about 3 miles. going back this summer from the Kidney Lakes.
mrrich - Sep 14, 2003 11:55 pm
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: July 1979Climbed as a boy scout at age 12... What I remember most is that my parents wouldn't buy me any treats.. .I survived on the food the scout master set us up with. A lot of Cracked Wheat and Fish was consumed durring that 4 days!
Scott - Aug 21, 2003 12:50 pm
Route Climbed: North and east routes. Date Climbed: Several timesFirst time at 12 years old. Interestingly, it has snowed every time I have been there; twice in July, once in August, and once in January.
live wire - Jul 28, 2003 6:56 pm
Route Climbed: Henrys Fork Date Climbed: June 12, 2003Took my 5 year old boy on this trip. The only part I helped him with was the river crossing. We stayed the night. Hit the trail and made it to anderson pass and turned around due to lighting with 9 hours of rain and snow none stop. Went home after that. we will try again he says.
John Styrnol - Jul 26, 2003 12:56 pm
Route Climbed: Henrys Fork Date Climbed: Sept 2002At this time Kings Peak was the highest I ever climb.
grandwazoo - Jun 30, 2003 11:09 am
Route Climbed: Henrys Fork - Anderson Pass Shute Date Climbed: May 01 2002Did the trip in a three day outting. Took the shute up to Anderson pass. Snow was soft and deep so scrambling the rocks was the best place to get traction. Had good weather, except for the snow and rain that fell for a hour while on South Kings.
millsapd - May 5, 2003 1:03 pm
Route Climbed: Henry's Fork Date Climbed: September 2000This mountain is not best done by a day hike, but our schedule required it. We began early and enjoyed the trail, but the approach is very long. We followed the trail up over Gunsight Pass and around to Anderson Pass, reaching the summit in the very early afternoon. Clouds were threatening, so we elected to descend the talus slope northeast of Anderson Pass down into Henry's Fork. This shaved off several miles and quite a lot of time, but we still arrived at the car after dark. I would like to camp next time.