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Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:59 am
by stever500
Hi,

First post here. I posted this on another forum but no one responded. Maybe not many people are on these forums but I thought I'd give it a shot here too for those that don't visit there. I don't want to try this hike by myself since it could be 3 days of hiking (10 miles per day) and I've never gone this far to a high point. I need to hike with someone that knows how to find this particular summit (I get lost easily pretty).

I'm attempting Mt Hood on June 5th with Timberline Mountain Guides which would be #44 and Kings Peak would be #45 for Kings Peak if I made them both.

Any takers? I'm 51, in fairly good shape, work out ever other day but rarely hike unless I'm doing state high points, haven't backpacked in years but I did make it up Mt Whitney 5 years or so ago. And, I would appreciate the company. My uncle and a friend might join me but none of us could easily find the top of Utah without some help from another high pointer. Or, it could end up being just me in the end that does this hike. I can't count on my friend or uncle to come.

I plan to go to the Highpointers Konvention in June in Oregon but don't want to wait that long to meet somewhere there that may be interested since I want to get a plane ticket further in advance if possible. But, if I have to wait till then, I will. It's just with Labor Day weekend I kind of wanted to get tickets earlier due to it being such a big travel weekend.

I thought Labor Day Weekend would be a good bet since it may be more crowded and we'd see more people who may know the trail and where the top is if we got lost. I'd be flying from Maryland on August 30th, Thursday into Salt Lake City, drive to the trail head area or somewhere near it and start hiking early Friday morning. Saturday would be the Kings Peak attempt day and then walk back Sunday (unless we had the extreme energy to walk back after the hike to the top on Saturday which I doubt).

Fly home Monday am, Labor Day.

Are the mosquitos still pretty awful this time of year? Is there a better time to go when the bugs aren't super bad? I don't do winter hiking, have no technical rock climbing skills or crampons and am afraid of heights - but none of my hikes yet really played into my extreme fear of heights (such as Chicken Out Ridge in ID - haven't tried that one yet).

Anyone? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Regards,
Steve R
Gaithersburg, MD.

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:14 am
by lcarreau
We did Kings several years ago. There are mosquitoes and moose in August. I call it the M 'n M gang ..

We only stayed two nights. The first night we slept in our car at the Henrys Fork Trailhead. If you get an early start, you'll find GREAT camping
at Dollar Lake.

If you get another early start, you can do Kings and make it back down to your starting point in the SAME day. Best of luck ..

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:03 am
by stever500
Thanks for the quick response. So we're probably going to get inundated with mosquitos on Labor Day Weekend? Hmmm, is there a better time to go in the summer then? Or early fall before it gets cold? Or ... is Labor Day Weekend actually a good time since we'll run into other hikers and have less chance of getting lost near the top?

Yeah, in a perfect world I'd like to do it in 2 days as well. Have to see how it goes...

Steve

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:17 am
by Scott
So we're probably going to get inundated with mosquitos on Labor Day Weekend?


This year has been extremely dry in the Uintas. The mosquitoes will be long gone in late August. So will all the flowers and everything will be pretty brown by then.

Advantage of climbing in Late August this year = no mosquitoes.

Disadvantage = Less pretty/aesthetic than normal.

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:42 pm
by Joseph Bullough
Ditto what Scott said. I've climbed Kings a couple of times near Labor Day and never saw a single mosquito. And this year has been drier than normal. I also climbed it in mid-July and was nearly eaten alive.

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:06 am
by stever500
Yeah! Glad to hear the squiters should be gone by then. But to the question at hand, is it likely I'll find a hiking partner here on this site? I can't read a map to save my life (that well). I don't have a GPS and not even sure it would help me that well on this peak if I did. I was hoping we'd see people that Saturday at the base of Kings Peak and then follow them up to the top. I met a couple near the bottom of NM's Wheeler Peak and they said they got lost trying to find the top of Kings Peak and weren't even sure they were on the right mountain. They even had a GPS but it didn't help them. They were older, not sure if that mattered...

I'll have to wing it if no one wants to hike with me/us. I guess we'll just have to figure it out from the maps I'll try to bring, and a bunch of just back reports.

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:05 am
by Wasatch Summits
As others have mentioned the bugs will be gone around the end of August. You will likely see moose, donkeys and horses up there for sure. Lots of spackle on the trail from the latter two. Loads of people to help if you have questions about the route also, usually.

If you're fit and used to the altitude Kings can be done pretty easily in 7-10 hours round trip. I did a solo day trip up there in late August of 2009, hitting the main summit, making a quick jaunt over to the south summit and back. Neat area, wish I had more time to hit up a few more while I was up there, though the clouds moved in fast in the p.m. Being stuck on one of those ridges during a lightning storm would be harrowing... Though the spookiest thing that happened to me that day was startling some guy's donkey, which started braying loudly near his camp at Dollar Lake at about 5:00 a.m. while heading up the trail.

Pics from that day:

Looking north at the main summit from the summit of South Kings:

Image

Main summit upper right while on the cutoff from Gunsight Pass:

Image

Another angle looking north from South Kings:

Image

Animals:

Image

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:25 am
by davev1954
PM sent

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:19 pm
by Joseph Bullough
stever500 wrote:But to the question at hand, is it likely I'll find a hiking partner here on this site?


My guess is that if you occasionally bump this post to the top of the forum you'll eventually find a partner. And even if you don't, you'll encounter many people on the trail who can help guide the way. Soon after you make the turn south near Elkhorn Crossing you'll be above treeline, and the peak will be in view for much of the remainder of the hike.

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:17 pm
by stever500
Thanks everyone, for your generous information and one gent's offer to hike that specific weekend with him and his son. This forum rocks! It's also good to know that even if I had to go out there alone, I could almost definitely just wait at the trailhead for someone else to hike with that busy Labor Day weekend and not have to risk hiking alone and getting totally lost. It's funny that people say something is easy to find (the summit). I've heard this about many other trails in the past and gotten lost. My sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired, even with a map. I would never attempt this hike without other folks by my side.

Very excited now. I know I can potentially do this now. Yeahhh!

Re: Anyone interested in joining me 8/30/12 to do Kings Peak

PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 2:47 am
by kinela70
I would like to try. How ever I don't have much experience. But I really want to hike it. Thanks and looking froward to go.