Some of This, That, and Other Things: Kings Peak

So we took advantage of a long weekend and went and climbed a beautiful mountain. Julia and I had been hoping for quite some time to get into the Uinta Mountains for some backpacking. Dave and Olivia said let's go do it. So we joined them for a trip up Kings Peak and it was worth it.

We approached from the north, parking at the Henry's Fork Trailhead. We were soon very pleased to be there. The trail was extraordinary.

Olivia at an intersection. Kings Peak is way bock dare.

Weather was pretty good.

What a valley. If I was a trail runner, I would go here.

And there were flowers all over the place. There were so many flowers that our former-national-park-interpretive-ranger tour guides couldn't remember the names of them all. And they remembered a lot of names. It was a fun approach.

A pleasant glade above Henry's Fork Lake.

Two pictures of flowers in one blog post. Weird.

Our initial plan was to hike up valley and enjoy a restful evening in the cirque then go for the peak in the morning. But everyone was feeling good and at 2:00 we were way ahead of schedule. So we decided to set up the tents and go for the peak that afternoon. It was Dave's idea to put up the tents. Good thing we did that. If it were just me, I would have dumped them under a bush and taken off. Instead we got them good and ready for a storm. Julia mentioned something about not being so particular about getting the rainfly just right. Still, I wanted to get the rainfly just right.

Tents set up. Doesn't really look like rain.

Heading up towards Gunsight Pass. Happy wife.

The trail was really fun. There was no shortage of beautiful scenes to look at. Lakes, cliffs, and neat looking rocks all made the afternoon pleasant. We made the pass, scooted up some little cliff bands, and took a shortcut across a field of rocks, all the while astounded by the alpine scenes.

It's worth taking a good long look at valleys made by glaciers.

Up on the north ridge of Kings Peak.

A happy couple on the top.

Good friends. Happy times.

Atmospheric instability started to appear as we first began to head up the ridge. We soaked in the beauty for as long as Julia could handle and started back.

Hello dark clouds.

Throughout the descent it became progressively darker and windier. So we beat cheeks to get back to the tents. But we got caught. When we got back to Gunsight Pass, it was time for a thunderstorm. It began to sprinkle at the top and as we headed down lightning lit up Gilbert Peak and its surrounding ridges pretty good. Then it rained hard. There were one or two profound strikes less than a mile away. We laughed at every crack and assured each other of our safety down off the ridges. I can't speak for the others but for some reason I felt right at home. I wasn't afraid. I was glad to be there.

And our tents were secure. We got back to our campsite as the first storm swung past and we enjoyed to calm for a few minutes. We took the opportunity to cook up some food. As we made dinner another bank of clouds headed up the valley toward our campsite. We retreated to our tents and settled in to ride out the storm. More thunder and lightning (un)comfortably close. Dave and I would whoop and laugh with each strike. Julia became more comfortable with the idea of lightning during an adventure. She may have even enjoyed it a little bit. Helps to be in a good tent. Dave and Olivia were using a nice sturdy tent but with a small leak. In the middle of the night during a rainstorm they had an unexpected encounter with Chinese water torture but were able to come up with a solution using a rain jacket and get back to sleep.

The next morning all was well.

Cooking breakfast on an old moraine.

Refreshing place.

We ate well, packed up, and headed back down the trail. I don't remember what we had for breakfast but it was very good. All of us were very pleased.

Three pictures of flowers?!? This one has mountains too.

Good trail, good weather, and good friends.

Priceless day at Dollar Lake.

We couldn't get back to the car without another afternoon shower. But we were loving it.

At the end of July on the last day of sampling in the Willard Spur poor form pushing the canoe into the water gave me the posture and gait of an 85 year-old. Bummer. But the Uintas didn't go anywhere and the weather looked pretty dang good for the Perseid meteor shower. So Julia and I headed up the Mirror Lake Highway, found a nice spot, made dinner, and watched the stars. It was a good night.