SEPTEMBER 2015
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| CURT & ADAM WITH KINGS PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND |
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| DOLLAR LAKE |
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| LAKE BLANCHARD |
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| SMALL LAKE NEAR LAKE BLANCHARD |
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| SMALL LAKE BETWEEN LAKE BLANCHARD AND DOLLAR LAKE |
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| POND NEAR LAKE BLANCHARD |
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| THE WALK FROM LAKE BLANCHARD TO DOLLAR LAKE |
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| CURT BETWEEN LAKE BLANCHARD AND DOLLAR LAKE |
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| KINGS PEAK FROM BELOW |
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| SMALL LAKE NEAR DOLLAR LAKE |
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| SMALL LAKE NEAR CLIFF LAKE |
Kings Peak is hike that had been on my bucket list for a long time before I finally hiked it in September of 2015. As I'm from Utah, I've always naturally had a desire to climb its highest point. While summitting the peak is the highlight of the hike, the trail will take you by some very impressive scenery along the way. It is a twenty-nine mile round-trip hike to reach the peak from the Henry's Fork Trailhead where we began our hike. We made the hike a two-night backpack trip and spent the first night at Dollar Lake, about seven-and-a-half miles up the trail. After setting up camp at Dollar Lake, we decided to day-hike over to some of the lakes on the other side of the basin. We found a trail to Henry's Fork Lake and then had to make our own way across some swampy meadows and brush up to Blanchard Lake. Blanchard Lake was really nice, and so we rested a while here before attempting to hike to Cliff Lake at the top of the basin. However, along the way, a strong rain storm hit. We threw on our ponchos and huddled under a large rock for a while waiting for it to pass over. When it lightened up we were able to make it a bit further up to a pond just below Cliff Lake. We decided to turn back here as it was getting late and the weather still looked a little shaky. We took an alternate cross-country hike back to our camp at Dollar Lake, trying to a avoid the marshy sections we had hiked through on our way up.
The next morning we day-hiked the seven remaining miles to Kings Peak. There is, of course a lot of climbing involved. First you will make the climb over Gunsight Pass and drop into Painter Basin. Painter Basin is a nice walk through a flat, green basin with several ponds and streams. After you leave Painter Basin the trail begins its steep climb up the rocky mountain side. Kings Peak just looks like a massive pile of crumbled rocks from the side. It is not the most majestic mountain. Eventually you will reach Anderson Pass and from there scramble across the rocky ridge to Kings Peak. There are a lot of large loose rocks to hike over here so be careful. Kings Peak was easy for us to find, as there was a large group of hikers gathered there. Everyone was in a good mood and took turns standing on the highest rock. It was a fun celebration. The view from on top is pretty stark. You are looking down on large tree-less basins containing ponds and lakes, separated by large crumbly mountains. Its a unique area. After a short snack break, we made our way back down the mountain to our camp at Dollar Lake.
