Hiking King's Peak

Okay so I’m not quite on a ship yet. The reason being postponement of the cruise line’s sail dates, COVID-19 precautions, and the CDC’s most recent restrictions. I will assure you though, I am not a sitting duck. This post doesn’t focus on my contract with the cruise line but instead all the exciting adventures I have completed in the meantime. As I wait for my official departure date to start rehearsals as a performer with RCCL, I have been taking advantage of Utah’s mountain ranges and hiking terrain. In fact, my boyfriend and I have been hiking so much this summer that we have hiked more than 100 miles in the past 2 months.

Our most recent adventure was to Utah’s tallest mountain, King’s Peak. The location of the summit is so far in the Uinta Mountain Range that you have to backpack in, camp, hike the summit up/down, camp, then hike out. A three day trip with 30+ miles! (Although Alltrails will tell you an inaccurate approx of 26)

Inspired by a blog post from August 2019 (written by Richard Fox), I thought I should do a little write up about the experience. My boyfriend, his brother, and I packed our backpacks with essential items like food, sleeping gear, a tent, bug spray, sunscreen, cooking gear, emergency items, hiking poles, water filter, jet stove, chapstick, toothbrush/paste, bear spray, warm clothes, a daypack/camelback, and small items like a whistle, signal mirror, multitool, pocket, knife, etc. And we drove out of Utah through Wyoming back into Utah to reach Henry’s Fork Trailhead.

Here is a fun tidbit, we didn’t know prior to setting out on this journey, “National Geographic just named the Henry's Fork trail to Kings Peak as one of the top 10 treks in the entire world.” Apparently it takes months of training for a hike like this. Well I did it with 2 inch gashes on my feet from cutting my soles on shells in the Tijuana River just 4 days prior. I would 100% not recommend completing a hike like this unless you are in good physical condition, your feet are cut free, and all your joints ready to roll. (not literally down the mountain of course)

Well, I wrapped up my feet, with extra bandaids and socks handy, and attempted the climb. It was about 8 miles to our camping spot on a well marked path, neatly tread down by horseback riders and previous hikers. We camped at Dollar Lake, where we saw a moose, took a swim, and used our filter to collect water for dinner and refill our packs. After setting up our tent, hanging our bags up on tree nubs, sealing our food, and filling our bellies with light weight “just add water” meals, we tried to sleep.

My inflatable sleeping pad, pillow, and sleeping bag were good quality and even with oxygen activated hand warmers, I had chills through the night. We woke up to a woodpecker alarm. Every morning started the same with a good dose of deet bug spray (which I think the breed of mosquitoes on King’s is immune to) and new bandages for my feet. We had breakfast and put all our stuff in the tent so we could summit with just our day packs.

The climb to the top of the peak was another 8 miles. The last 2 miles of which were all rock and scrambling on all four. With a well marked trail, we had to hike up over Gunsight ridge and down the other side into the Painter’s Basin and then back up the saddle to the point. King’s Peak was deceiving because as we climbed each new point seemed like the top only to realize on the other side of the peak you just climbed was another taller peak to climb. We ran into locals, new friends, and Ohioers.

I think this mountain is one hikers do just to say they did it rather than one for the view at the top. I say this because everything was so itty bitty from the top it all started blending together. We all felt pretty cool once we started hiking the summit only to swallow our pride as a jogger ran past us with a pair of skis on his back. Impressed by his pace and load we later learned, by looking down the side of the mountain, he skied down the steep slope through rocks and small patches of snow to the base.

Instead of shortcutting across more rocks, we took the long loopy way back to camp and it was good we did. Coincidently, because we didn’t take the shortcut, we crossed paths with a fellow hiker who was in need of our help. One of our party went with him to help look for his mom who he lost after splitting up. Turns out she slowly made her way back to camp while he was doubling back looking for her.

The whole time I hiked, I thought about my ancestors and Utah pioneers who walked several miles a day, some without shoes, to reach a place they could finally settle and call home. My feet were sore as we shuffled back to camp but I tried not to complain, reflecting on what many women did in heavy dresses with babies on their hips. After another delicious dinner, I had a better night's sleep, thanks to my fellow hikers for giving me the middle spot in the tent which enclosed more body heat.

We refilled our water, packed up our camp, ate oatmeal for breakfast, and headed down the mountain. It was such a marvelous hike and accomplishment, despite a small water leak, melted cheese, my constant tender feet, ripped pants, many mosquito bites, and a lost earring. I am auspicious to say, I successfully hiked the tallest mountain in my home state, King’s Peak.