Order of Visit: High Point #23
Date Visited: September 7, 2020
Route Taken: Unita Highline Trail #25 – 64 miles (one-way) as part of my 2020 UHT thru-hike
Type of Terrain: High altitude trail up to Anderson Pass, followed by a steep, unmarked rock scramble the final mile to the summit
Elevation: 13,528 feet
Ancestral Lands: Eastern Shoshone, Ute
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Kings Peak (there’s no apostrophe in the name) was named for Clarence King, an American geologist and surveyor who lived during the second half of the 19th century and ultimately became the first director of the USGS.
Best known for his survey work in the Sierra Nevadas (he was partially responsible for naming of Mt. Whitney), King went on to explore and survey areas throughout the West, and also dramatically exposed the Diamond Hoax of 1872, which vaulted him to international celebrity.
One of the more interesting aspects of King’s legacy was the fact that he spent the last 13 years of his adulthood leading a double life. During one of his visits to New York City in the late 1880’s, he met a formerly enslaved black woman named Ada Copeland. King hid his true identity from Copeland to began passing as an African-American pullman porter named James Todd.
King and Copeland entered a common law marriage that produced five children, and King would pass as an anonymous ‘colored man’ while at home in New York, and lived as a white geologist and writer while working elsewhere.
King continued this charade until finally admitting the deception to Copeland in a letter on his deathbed in 1901. For more about this fascinating part of King’s life, check out the book, Passing Strange by Martha Sandalweiss.
(Photo credit: New York Daily News)
TRIP SUMMARY
My hike of Kings Peak will remain one of the most memorable adventures in my life, if not for the summit itself, but because of what happened in the immediate hours afterward. I should also make clear, I didn’t take the route that most highpointers use to get to Utah’s state high point (i.e., the 27-mile round-trip route using the Henry’s Fork Trail from the north). Instead, I tagged the summit as part of my thru-hike of the east-west running Uinta Highline Trail in early September 2020. This meant, I trekked over 60 miles before making it to this mountain.
My morning began near Fox Lake, approximately 17 miles east of Kings Peak. The day was filled with fairly gentle terrain, but it wasn’t easy – given that I was hiking at or above 11,000 feet the entire way. Yet, I was on cloud nine because my route have already provided me with a rare sight I’d been searching out for several years!
As I made my way around one of the lake the prior afternoon, I saw a moose! I’ve been hoping for a wild moose sighting on so many of my other backcountry hikes in Maine, Minnesota, and Montana. Yet they always seemed to elude me. After thousands of miles of hiking, I was on the verge of believing they were just mythical creatures, like dragons or leprechauns. But then, I spotted a mature cow on the opposite bank of the lake, plunging her head under the water to graze! My photo is admittedly poor because I didn’t want to get too close, but I assure you, it was definitely a moose! In Utah!!
Still riding high on my moose-sighting, I was ready to bag myself another state high point. It took me the better part of the day to get to Painter’s Basin, just below the range of mountains I’d need to summit. Each time I looked out ahead of me at the various peaks, I’d think, “man that mountain is high.” Then I’d snap back to reality with the realization that it was inevitably shorter than the one I’d have ultimately climb if I was going to the top of Utah!
I stopped for lunch around 1:30 pm with hopes to replenish my energy before the climb, Yet, as so often happens at altitude, I had no appetite. It took all my effort to chew and swallow some calories and build up the energy for the task ahead. And the entire time I was eating, I was looking at Kings Peak looming on the horizon. It was going to be a beast. No doubt!
After leaving the Painter’s Basin, it was time to climb up three long miles up to Anderson Pass at 12,700′. This was not easy, let me tell you. As I slowly trudged up the switchbacks, my 20-pound pack felt like someone snuck a pile a bricks inside it. Other hikers were making their way back down with nothing on their backs, and I envied them the luxury of being able to leave their packs back at camp. However, I was continuing west after my summit, so I had no choice but to lug my whole kit-and-caboodle up this climb.
Somewhere below Anderson Pass, the trail leveled out onto a sort of tableland. It wasn’t exactly flat, but it was easier than it had been up to that point. I just needed to keep my eye on the prize – the triangular-shaped peak ahead of me. That sharp outline in the distance marked the pass. And once I got there, I could finally drop my heavy pack and ascend the final mile and remaining 1,000′ of elevation without it.
I’ll admit, as I headed up, I felt like I was trudging through invisible water. This isn’t the first time I’d been at higher elevation. Far from it. Yet, perhaps the 60 miles of hiking over the past three days was finally taking its toll. My legs were just so heavy and every step was laborious. So, it wasn’t until 3 pm that I finally made it up to Anderson Pass and could see the valley on the far side of the mountains.
As I’d planned, I went ahead and dropped my heavy pack between some boulders beside the trail. There was virtually no one I sight and I didn’t have the slightest worry that someone would come up here and take it. A bit of wind was picking up now, so I quickly donned my rain jacket and beanie hat for a little additional warmth, and then it was time to tackle the boulders to the summit.
I knew I needed to take a 90° turn at Anderson Pass and begin heading up the steep ridgeline toward Kings Peak. Yet, there was no real trail to follow from here. It was just rocks, talus, and boulders heading up to toward the sky. Not even a cairn to use as a guide. But, it didn’t seem that all that far to the top. I could just scramble up and back down again, right?
It turns out I needed slowly picked my way up the rocks, careful to watch where I was stepping. Some of the rocks were clearly unstable. While others appeared to be solid until you put your weight on them and watched them shift. I kept looking up toward the highest point above me and used that as my guide of where to go. And when I finally reached it, my heart fell. It was merely a false summit and there were several more ahead of me.
The spine of the mountain was a knife’s edge covered by boulders rather than the flat path I hoped it might be. Consequently, I had to pick my through the rocks just below the the silhouette of the mountain for close to an hour. Each time I made it to a spot where I thought might finally be near the top, my hopes were dashed. Just one more false summit.
Then, the ridgeline dipped down several hundred feet before making the final push to the real summit. The journey was mentally exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, I like a choose-your-own-adventure route from time-to-time. But I was simply too beat from my journey out here. I just wanted to get to the dang top already.
I eventually made it to the real summit around 4:05 pm. It had taken me 50 minutes to go one mile! I was tired, but elated all the same. Not a soul was out there with me. It was Labor Day, and I had the mountain completely to myself!! I spotted the small wooden sign propped up against some boulders, and then took out my phone to capture myself on the summit of my 23rd (and possible most challenging) state high point!!
With that obligatory task complete, I took a few minutes to appreciate the views, and noticed the distant views of the other mountains seemed hazier than it had been the past few days. A major cold front was supposed to roll in this evening, and the winds must really be kicking up to create that haze. Of course that’s when I admitted to myself that I needed to get started on the inevitable journey back down to my Anderson Pass before it got too windy up here too!
This descent was definitely going to be one of those treks that’s just as difficult as the ascent. Without a path or blazes to lead the way, I was completely on my own to get off this mountain. I’ll admit it was a bit of a chore, but I eventually made it back to my pack around 5pm. Just enough time to hike the next few miles down off this ridge and down to lower ground to make camp for the night!
DETAILS
When to Visit: Kings Peak (there is no apostrophe in the name) is best accessed during the summer season. As part of the Uinta High Range, this mountain is covered in snow for about half of the year, and late-spring or early-fall snowstorms can make summiting on the rocks both difficult and dangerous. In fact, within hours of my own summit in early September, a blizzard came through the area and dropped several FEET of snow on the area!
Getting There: Kings Peak is located 75 miles due west of Salt Lake City, Utah as the crow flies. However, the most direct hiking route begins at the Henry’s Fork Trailhead, which requires a 150-mile drive from Salt Lake City up into southern Wyoming and then back down into Utah.
Hikers can take a multi-day hike that follow the Henry’s Fork trail south along the the river, over Gunsight Pass to Painter’s Basin, and then up to Anderson Pass and on to the summit. The total distance from Henry’s Fork Trailhead to the summit is 13.5 miles (one-way). This route is significantly shorter than the 40- and 60-mile options along the Unita Highline Trail that I used.
Entrance Fees/Permits: None.
Parking: There is room for approximately 20 cars to park at the Henry’s Fork Trailhead.
Accessibility: This hike is extremely strenuous. Hikers will experience high elevation over a period of days, and the final ascent from Anderson Pass to the summit requires about a mile of boulder scrambling at 13,000 feet!
Bonus: When you’re done seeing the top of Utah, why not head back to Salt Lake City and hit up Uinta Brewing brewhouse pub for a Kings Peak Porter (if it’s available)? Or try out their tasty line-up of outdoor-themed IPAs to celebrate!
Resources:
- Hiking Kings Peak (Utah.com)
- Kings Peak via Henry’s Fork Trail (All Trails)
- Backpacking Kings Peak (The Outbound Collective)
- Use Caution When Taking on the King of Utah Peaks (Deseret News)