KIngs Peak

I came across this wonderful picture of Kings Peak, and it brought back some delicious memories. Because of its positioning between other high mountains, it is hard to get a good picture. Kings Peak, in the Uintas, at 13,528 feet above sea level, is Utah's highest point.

I climbed it twice, both on scout 50 milers. The first was with Denton Haueter as scoutmaster. Matthew was a young scout on that trip, and I best remember him taking a nap on a flat rock at the top to recover from the effects of altitude. We slid off the top on a snowfield using our rain slickers.

The second was when I was Varsity Coach with Dave Ricketts and Larry Knowlden as assistants. I am trying to remember if David was on that trip or not--help me David. A highlight of the second trip was Dave Ricketts having the Llama, Nebraska, to carry his pack.

In the picture Kings Peak is the snowy, pointed mountain peaking through a sort of pass between the two closest ridges toward the far right of the picture. The picture appears to have been taken from a little ridge, and has a southward view across Henry's Basin. The route to the top generally starts in Painter Basin which is across the Ridge to the left of Kings Peak through Gunsight pass, which is not shown in the picture but is just out of view to the left (I think). The route continues to Anderson Pass which can be seen at the top of the snowy talus slope up from Henry's Fork immediately in front of Kings Peak. Some brave souls take a short cut to Anderson Pass by scrambling of this slope. The final 1500 feet of the climb is bolder-hopping along the north ridge of Kings Peak. This ridge is clearly shown on the photo.