A cold day after the season's first snow -- scenic, but slow going. Trip report.
Diesel - Sep 4, 2016 9:53 pm Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2016
Day Hike via Henrys Fork TH
Easy (non-technical) day hike on a mostly sunny day. None of my fears became real: the trail is impossible to miss, the shortcut from Gunsight Pass is very defined, easy to see and very easy to follow. The "scramble" to the summit from Anderson Pass is no scramble at all; all of the rocks on this mountain are almost glued together. There was no lighting or rain, although lots of clouds gathered greatly above the mountain starting at 11:30 AM. I came down the toilet bowl chute and that was an easy descent, cutting 1.25 miles and an hour of hiking. The one thing I did not worry about was the altitude sickness, and that hit me hard once I got in bed that evening. In a nutshell: 25 miles in 10 hours and 41 minutes total time, with a 9 hours and 47 minutes of an actual hiking time. 5:50 AM to 4:30 PM. Not to shabby. I will probably write a trip report about this in a couple of mounts.
bricewilson - Aug 31, 2016 1:17 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2016
Day trip from Henry's Fork
Also tagged West Gunsight on the way. Was hoping to get a few more after King's, but lightning, thunder and hail started right at noon and lasted for a few hours.
swenspud - Aug 25, 2016 9:52 pm Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2016
Quick Backpack Trip
Climbed via Henrys Fork. Decided to camp up over Gunsight Pass and into Painters Basin. Storms seemed to be circling all around, but we got lucky and only got hit with a little hail storm and some rain coming over Gunsight. The rest of the evening, after setting up camp, we enjoyed good weather. No rain over night, and at 4 AM in the morning we had stars and clear skies. Perfect for making our way to the summit. It was an incredible time. Packed out that same day, surprised at all the storms we saw around us, yet never getting hit by any. Didn't hear a single clap of thunder or see a single flash of lightning.
IagosGhost - Aug 1, 2016 10:37 am Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2016
Long Haul
We climbed via Henry's Fork. We had a great climb and be some very nice people along the way. The views were amazing and make the toil worth it. We considered going down the chute to save some time, but we decided against it.
Climbed King's peak in one day.. 16 hour round trip. I started at the Henry fork trailhead at 5:30am made it back at 9:30pm.. I would not recommend a 1 day hike for the weak willed.
48 hours round trip from SLC. Excellent conditions and weather. Epic sunset in upper basin.
PanamaRed - Jun 21, 2016 11:44 pm Date Climbed: Jun 10, 2016
Snowy Early June Ascent
Did a 5 day trip out into the Uintas and Kings Peak from June 8-12. There was TONS of snow and water near Dollar Lake, and I ended up camping on an "island" of bare dry ground, surrounded by swampy vegetation. The water was 2-3 ft deep in some areas of the swamp. I spent 2 nights in this area waiting for a weather window. On June 10, it was somewhat cloudy, but I took a chance and went for it. From Dollar lake on the snow was very deep, and I was constantly punching through the snow up to my knees and sometimes waist. From Gunsight Pass I traversed along the eastern flank of West Gunsight Peak trying not to loose to much elevation. I ended up ascending a VERY steep couloir which I mistook as the proper way to reach the saddle between Kings and West Gunsight. It took me to the right spot thankfully. The North Ridge of Kings was a wall of quite steep snow(im sure when it is dry it does not look as steep). I was glad I had my ice axe with me. I made it too the summit around 5pm(My cell phone had no service and thus I had no alarm. I woke up a little late that morning). The descent proved to be a breeze up to the point when the sun set. I spent 3 hours slogging my way through the waist deep lower elevation snow, and the knee deep swamps. I finally stumbled back to my tent at around midnight. I took a rest day the next day which proved to be a mistake. The weather came back with a vengance, and I spent most of the afternoon huddled in my tent while lightning exploded all around me. Several strikes where withing 100ft of my tent. The next day I packed up and headed for my truck, only to be pelted with quite large hailstones and lightning bolts. I was very glad to reach my car. All in all its was a great trip. I was the only person out in the valley beneath kings, which was quite cool.
did this a couple times as a boy scout in 1998 and 1999, multiday backpack from Henry's fork. Mini loop around sawmill and bear lakes, up the "shortcut" gully above lake 11208, then down past dollar lakes.
bdz132 - Oct 30, 2015 2:22 am Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2004
Kings Peak
I hiked this back in 2004 with my brother, father, and brother-in-law as part of a 3-day backpacking and fishing trip. We started at Henry's Fork TH and camped at Henry's Lake. I fell in love with the remoteness and beauty of the Uinta Mountains and try to go backpacking and fishing there every year.
With Duc, Doug, and Darby. Left Henry's Fork TH at 11 am and arrived at Dollar Lake at 2:30. Refueled, rested, and found a campsite before deciding there would be too much free time so we might as well summit. We hike over Gunsight Pass and followed the trail around and up to Anderson Pass before hitting the summit right at sunset(7:15) The full moon made headlamps unnecessary except for looking for cairns. We followed the trail back to camp and arrived at 02:00. There were brilliant shooting stars and a wonderful peace to the land. We ate dinner and drank hit drinks before bed. The next morning, we left camp at 11:45 and arrived at the TH at 1:45. My feet were burning but it was such a great trip, I didn't care. Will have to revisit the high Uinta again.
montanajames - Sep 14, 2015 11:14 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2015
Success
Reached the top with Justin and Megan on Friday, September 11th. Camped at Dollar lake on the 10th and 11th, hiked out on the 12th. Saw 2 moose less than a tenth of a mile from our Dollar Lake camp.
browng73 - Aug 31, 2015 12:20 pm Date Climbed: Aug 1, 2015
Best in Utah
Hiked in from Henry's Fork TH. Came this way 20 years ago and went straight to Dollar Lake. This time I took the right fork at Elkhorn Crossing and visited the west side of the valley. Much better scenery and mountain views. Bear Lake is worth a visit. The trail passes above Grass Lake, and just to the soutwest although there is no trail, is Island lake. Saw 7 moose there-5 bulls. Camped at Henry's Lake. Ascended Kings by way of Gunsight Pass, dropping into Painter Basin and following trail that skirts along bottom of cliffs. Easy trail, but long. 7 miles from camp to peak that way. On the way down, we descended Anderson Pass. Very steep but doable, just stay out of the loose rocks, and give plenty of space between people because rock falls are easily started. From peak back to Henry's via Anderson was just over 3 miles- saves a lot of time on the return trip, but it is only for the fit.
If fishing is your thing, go up to Lake Blanchard- above Henry's. Awewsome fishing- nice yellow Browns!
abrennalinerush - Aug 30, 2015 9:30 pm Date Climbed: Aug 29, 2015
Technically summited twice in the same day.
After living in this beautiful state for three years, I finally got to meet Kings! Done as part of the Utah Triple Crown (did Gilbert the day before and South Kings right after Kings) from Henry's Fork trailhead. Perfect weather!
fallonclimbs - Aug 30, 2015 1:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2012
First backpack trip
2 days of amazing hiking and scrambling. Beautiful weather for summit morning but otherwise rainy. Saw moose
ridings82 - Aug 11, 2015 1:47 am Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2015
Kings Peak
Started on a Friday evening at 5pm and hiked up to Dollar Lake - spent the night in the rain and wind with snow flurries above 12k feet (in early August). Summited the next morning, hiked back to camp, broke it down and hiked out. Back at car by 5:30pm, just over 24 hours including spending the night. Saw search and rescue looking for some lost Boy Scouts as well; not quite what you're hoping to find.
08/08/15 - Via Henry's Fork, Gunsight Pass, cut-off, Anderson Pass and Summit
08/03/16 - Side hike from Anderson Pass are part of the Highline Trail from Mirror Lake to Hackling Lake.
jjessen40 - Aug 6, 2015 5:54 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2013
King's Peak
Hiked this in 2 days with my wife from Henry's Fork. Beautiful hike.
siekkid - Aug 5, 2015 4:02 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2015
High Point #24
2 night Henry Fork Trail backpack trip. Gunsight Pass to Painter Basin, to Anderson Pass route. Snow and Thunder at the summit just before noon, hail and rain on the way back to camp. Beautiful mountain and area. Saw a cow moose and her calf on the 1st day!
Puma concolor - Jul 19, 2015 8:44 am Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2008
State Highpoint #43
Great 3-day solo climb via the Henry's Fork approach. Blessed with perfect weather for my entire time on the mountain.
DarrenKnezek - Jul 12, 2015 1:07 pm Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2015
Partial Triple Crown
Did Gilbert, East Gunsight, and then Kings from Dollar Lake.
seano - Sep 16, 2016 4:36 pm Date Climbed: Sep 14, 2016
Standard routeA cold day after the season's first snow -- scenic, but slow going. Trip report.
Diesel - Sep 4, 2016 9:53 pm Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2016
Day Hike via Henrys Fork THEasy (non-technical) day hike on a mostly sunny day. None of my fears became real: the trail is impossible to miss, the shortcut from Gunsight Pass is very defined, easy to see and very easy to follow. The "scramble" to the summit from Anderson Pass is no scramble at all; all of the rocks on this mountain are almost glued together. There was no lighting or rain, although lots of clouds gathered greatly above the mountain starting at 11:30 AM. I came down the toilet bowl chute and that was an easy descent, cutting 1.25 miles and an hour of hiking. The one thing I did not worry about was the altitude sickness, and that hit me hard once I got in bed that evening. In a nutshell: 25 miles in 10 hours and 41 minutes total time, with a 9 hours and 47 minutes of an actual hiking time. 5:50 AM to 4:30 PM. Not to shabby. I will probably write a trip report about this in a couple of mounts.
bricewilson - Aug 31, 2016 1:17 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2016
Day trip from Henry's ForkAlso tagged West Gunsight on the way. Was hoping to get a few more after King's, but lightning, thunder and hail started right at noon and lasted for a few hours.
swenspud - Aug 25, 2016 9:52 pm Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2016
Quick Backpack TripClimbed via Henrys Fork. Decided to camp up over Gunsight Pass and into Painters Basin. Storms seemed to be circling all around, but we got lucky and only got hit with a little hail storm and some rain coming over Gunsight. The rest of the evening, after setting up camp, we enjoyed good weather. No rain over night, and at 4 AM in the morning we had stars and clear skies. Perfect for making our way to the summit. It was an incredible time. Packed out that same day, surprised at all the storms we saw around us, yet never getting hit by any. Didn't hear a single clap of thunder or see a single flash of lightning.
IagosGhost - Aug 1, 2016 10:37 am Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2016
Long HaulWe climbed via Henry's Fork. We had a great climb and be some very nice people along the way. The views were amazing and make the toil worth it. We considered going down the chute to save some time, but we decided against it.
Zlpeeps86 - Jul 29, 2016 8:38 pm Date Climbed: Jul 28, 2016
1 dayClimbed King's peak in one day.. 16 hour round trip. I started at the Henry fork trailhead at 5:30am made it back at 9:30pm.. I would not recommend a 1 day hike for the weak willed.
x4wheeling - Jul 16, 2016 7:51 pm Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2016
48 hours of awesome48 hours round trip from SLC. Excellent conditions and weather. Epic sunset in upper basin.
PanamaRed - Jun 21, 2016 11:44 pm Date Climbed: Jun 10, 2016
Snowy Early June AscentDid a 5 day trip out into the Uintas and Kings Peak from June 8-12. There was TONS of snow and water near Dollar Lake, and I ended up camping on an "island" of bare dry ground, surrounded by swampy vegetation. The water was 2-3 ft deep in some areas of the swamp. I spent 2 nights in this area waiting for a weather window. On June 10, it was somewhat cloudy, but I took a chance and went for it. From Dollar lake on the snow was very deep, and I was constantly punching through the snow up to my knees and sometimes waist. From Gunsight Pass I traversed along the eastern flank of West Gunsight Peak trying not to loose to much elevation. I ended up ascending a VERY steep couloir which I mistook as the proper way to reach the saddle between Kings and West Gunsight. It took me to the right spot thankfully. The North Ridge of Kings was a wall of quite steep snow(im sure when it is dry it does not look as steep). I was glad I had my ice axe with me. I made it too the summit around 5pm(My cell phone had no service and thus I had no alarm. I woke up a little late that morning). The descent proved to be a breeze up to the point when the sun set. I spent 3 hours slogging my way through the waist deep lower elevation snow, and the knee deep swamps. I finally stumbled back to my tent at around midnight. I took a rest day the next day which proved to be a mistake. The weather came back with a vengance, and I spent most of the afternoon huddled in my tent while lightning exploded all around me. Several strikes where withing 100ft of my tent. The next day I packed up and headed for my truck, only to be pelted with quite large hailstones and lightning bolts. I was very glad to reach my car. All in all its was a great trip. I was the only person out in the valley beneath kings, which was quite cool.
evant - Feb 22, 2016 1:02 am
boy scout routedid this a couple times as a boy scout in 1998 and 1999, multiday backpack from Henry's fork. Mini loop around sawmill and bear lakes, up the "shortcut" gully above lake 11208, then down past dollar lakes.
bdz132 - Oct 30, 2015 2:22 am Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2004
Kings PeakI hiked this back in 2004 with my brother, father, and brother-in-law as part of a 3-day backpacking and fishing trip. We started at Henry's Fork TH and camped at Henry's Lake. I fell in love with the remoteness and beauty of the Uinta Mountains and try to go backpacking and fishing there every year.
Garon Coriz - Sep 27, 2015 11:47 pm Date Climbed: Sep 26, 2015
Autumn WeekendWith Duc, Doug, and Darby. Left Henry's Fork TH at 11 am and arrived at Dollar Lake at 2:30. Refueled, rested, and found a campsite before deciding there would be too much free time so we might as well summit. We hike over Gunsight Pass and followed the trail around and up to Anderson Pass before hitting the summit right at sunset(7:15) The full moon made headlamps unnecessary except for looking for cairns. We followed the trail back to camp and arrived at 02:00. There were brilliant shooting stars and a wonderful peace to the land. We ate dinner and drank hit drinks before bed. The next morning, we left camp at 11:45 and arrived at the TH at 1:45. My feet were burning but it was such a great trip, I didn't care. Will have to revisit the high Uinta again.
montanajames - Sep 14, 2015 11:14 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2015
SuccessReached the top with Justin and Megan on Friday, September 11th. Camped at Dollar lake on the 10th and 11th, hiked out on the 12th. Saw 2 moose less than a tenth of a mile from our Dollar Lake camp.
browng73 - Aug 31, 2015 12:20 pm Date Climbed: Aug 1, 2015
Best in UtahHiked in from Henry's Fork TH. Came this way 20 years ago and went straight to Dollar Lake. This time I took the right fork at Elkhorn Crossing and visited the west side of the valley. Much better scenery and mountain views. Bear Lake is worth a visit. The trail passes above Grass Lake, and just to the soutwest although there is no trail, is Island lake. Saw 7 moose there-5 bulls. Camped at Henry's Lake. Ascended Kings by way of Gunsight Pass, dropping into Painter Basin and following trail that skirts along bottom of cliffs. Easy trail, but long. 7 miles from camp to peak that way. On the way down, we descended Anderson Pass. Very steep but doable, just stay out of the loose rocks, and give plenty of space between people because rock falls are easily started. From peak back to Henry's via Anderson was just over 3 miles- saves a lot of time on the return trip, but it is only for the fit.
If fishing is your thing, go up to Lake Blanchard- above Henry's. Awewsome fishing- nice yellow Browns!
abrennalinerush - Aug 30, 2015 9:30 pm Date Climbed: Aug 29, 2015
Technically summited twice in the same day.After living in this beautiful state for three years, I finally got to meet Kings! Done as part of the Utah Triple Crown (did Gilbert the day before and South Kings right after Kings) from Henry's Fork trailhead. Perfect weather!
fallonclimbs - Aug 30, 2015 1:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2012
First backpack trip2 days of amazing hiking and scrambling. Beautiful weather for summit morning but otherwise rainy. Saw moose
Trip report https://summitsofthestates.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/utah/
ridings82 - Aug 11, 2015 1:47 am Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2015
Kings PeakStarted on a Friday evening at 5pm and hiked up to Dollar Lake - spent the night in the rain and wind with snow flurries above 12k feet (in early August). Summited the next morning, hiked back to camp, broke it down and hiked out. Back at car by 5:30pm, just over 24 hours including spending the night. Saw search and rescue looking for some lost Boy Scouts as well; not quite what you're hoping to find.
08/08/15 - Via Henry's Fork, Gunsight Pass, cut-off, Anderson Pass and Summit
08/03/16 - Side hike from Anderson Pass are part of the Highline Trail from Mirror Lake to Hackling Lake.
jjessen40 - Aug 6, 2015 5:54 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2013
King's PeakHiked this in 2 days with my wife from Henry's Fork. Beautiful hike.
siekkid - Aug 5, 2015 4:02 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2015
High Point #242 night Henry Fork Trail backpack trip. Gunsight Pass to Painter Basin, to Anderson Pass route. Snow and Thunder at the summit just before noon, hail and rain on the way back to camp. Beautiful mountain and area. Saw a cow moose and her calf on the 1st day!
Puma concolor - Jul 19, 2015 8:44 am Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2008
State Highpoint #43Great 3-day solo climb via the Henry's Fork approach. Blessed with perfect weather for my entire time on the mountain.
DarrenKnezek - Jul 12, 2015 1:07 pm Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2015
Partial Triple CrownDid Gilbert, East Gunsight, and then Kings from Dollar Lake.