Kings Peak High Adventure – w/Dennis Adamson
By Alan on Aug 17 in Blog tagged be prepared for dangers, Boy Scouts, Dennis Adamson, Gunsight Pass, Henry's Lake, horses, Kings Peak High Adventure, mosquitoes, Mountain Pine Beetle, Uinta Moiuntains of Utah, Varsity Scouts | Comments Off
Week 32: Kings Peak High Adventure
At this writing I am sitting in my recliner with blister dressings on 3 toes, putting lip balm on severely cracked lips about every 30 minutes, hang nails upon hangnails, an even more sore foot than when I left (too long a story to tell) and 5 days growth of stubbly grey beard. I just can’t channel up enough energy to research and write a gardening article for this week. As I indicated last week, I might write about our Varsity Scout adventure.
I am the Varsity Scout (ages 14 & 15) coach. I and another leader took 6 boys on a 4 day hiking trip of about 35 miles duration to Kings Peak in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. The Uinta Mountains are the only major east/west mountain range in the lower 48 states. Kings Peak is the highest peak in Utah at 13,528 feet. The father of the other leader and grandfather to 2 of the boys that went with us let us take 3 of his pack horses: Bill, Dude and Woodrow. 
We drove from our homes in Pleasant Grove, UT into Wyoming and back into Utah to the Henry’s Fork Trailhead on Tuesday August 9th. The trail followed the Henry’s Fork River. 
It was discouraging to see the devastating effect of the Mountain Pine Beetle that can been seen in this photo. When we got to the river crossing the youngest horse, Bill, who had been skittish crossing several small streams, refused to cross. This meant that we would have to take the long way around. Now it was over a 9 mile hike instead of the 6 mile hike that we had intended after driving over 170 miles. We passed many beautiful small lakes surrounded by pines and willows along this trail. 
We camped at Henry’s Lake where if you look closely you will see the small circles where fish are jumping. 
After we set up camp some of the boys went fishing. One of the boys caught this whopper trout just at sunset and displayed it with pride. 
I have related how we had a cold wet spring and early summer. This made the season is about 1 month behind in the mountains. The problem with this was that the mosquitoes that are usually on the decline in August were around in great swarms. The difference between the dark and light mosquitoes in the photo is how the sun was reflecting off of them. 
We used nearly 2 bottles of insect repellent on the trip. We loved it when the wind came up and knocked them down. Once the sun went down and it cooled off quickly they settled into the foliage and didn’t bother us until the next day when the sun came up.
On Wednesday we loaded up the horses and headed for Gunsight Pass, the easiest entrance to the base of Kings Peak. 
The trail had switchbacks to make it easier to get over the pass. 
The trail crossed some snowfields. This caused the horses some problems because their hoofs and legs sunk deeply into the sun and made them lunge to move forward. From the top of the pass we dropped in Painter Basin.
This area is subarctic tundra with stunted pines and other plants. This was our base camp for the climb to the summit. 
Early on Thursday morning we started up to the base of the mountain. Even at the base it is still cold enough at night to freeze water. 
Once you start up the actual peak it is all boulders and is quite difficult hiking. 
The view is incredible with only distant peaks, basins and lakes to be seen in all directions. There is no civilization that visible in any direction. The peace and quiet was wonderful. 
We stayed in the base camp one more night and then hiked all the way back to the vehicles on Friday. This hike was about a distance of about 16 miles, including hunting down the hobbled horses and bringing them back to camp. It was amazing how far hobbled horses can roam in a night. The young horse Bill had now adjusted to crossing streams so we were able to cross the river with the horses and the boys and myself crossed the footbridge. The one from last year can be seen in the photo. The heavy weight of snow from last winter knocked it into the stream. 
This one was much more rickety because they only put a few cross poles over the the 3 long poles. Maybe this won’t allow the snow to pile up as high next winter. The last leg of the trail seemed to go on forever and one of the boys kneeled down and kissed the end of the path near the parking lot.
I was surprised at the number of vehicles in both the main parking lot and the horse trailer parking lot. A number of people use the weekend to climb Kings Peak. Many of them seemed to be only prepared for a leisurely day hike with no evidence of gear for emergencies or inclement weather. We were fortunate to have clear weather all 3 days, but this area is known to have thunderstorms come up unexpectedly with snow on the summit during the summer. Even for those prepared there can be dangers. When we got home we found out there was a 12 year old Boy Scout and an experienced 63 year old Australian hiker missing in these same mountains. When going into these areas always be prepared.
We had all of the boys take emergency whistles and signaling mirrors so that if they became lost they could be heard and seen from long distances. We had them use the buddy system so there were always 2 or more boys together. We also made sure that they had warm clothes, water and snacks in their day packs for the summit hike. Right now I don’t think that any of us are ready to head back into the wilderness. Give us a week or 2 of rest and that will change.
“His foundation is in the holy mountains.” Psalms 87:1
Next week: Tomatoes
Dennis Adamson
adamsond@juno.com = Ask Dennis any questions!
For The Family
Kings Peak High Adventure – With Dennis Adamson
By Alan on Aug 01 in Blog tagged be prepared for dangers, Boy Scouts, Dennis Adamson, Gunsight Pass, Henry's Lake, horses, Kings Peak High Adventure, mosquitoes, Mountain Pine Beetle, Uinta Moiuntains of Utah, Varsity Scouts | Comments Off
Week 32: Kings Peak High Adventure
At this writing I am sitting in my recliner with blister dressings on 3 toes, putting lip balm on severely cracked lips about every 30 minutes, hang nails upon hangnails, an even more sore foot than when I left (too long a story to tell) and 5 days growth of stubbly grey beard. I just can’t channel up enough energy to research and write a gardening article for this week. As I indicated last week, I might write about our Varsity Scout adventure.
I am the Varsity Scout (ages 14 & 15) coach. I and another leader took 6 boys on a 4 day hiking trip of about 35 miles duration to Kings Peak in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. The Uinta Mountains are the only major east/west mountain range in the lower 48 states. Kings Peak is the highest peak in Utah at 13,528 feet. The father of the other leader and grandfather to 2 of the boys that went with us let us take 3 of his pack horses: Bill, Dude and Woodrow.
We drove from our homes in Pleasant Grove, UT into Wyoming and back into Utah to the Henry’s Fork Trailhead on Tuesday August 9th. The trail followed the Henry’s Fork River.
It was discouraging to see the devastating effect of the Mountain Pine Beetle that can been seen in this photo. When we got to the river crossing the youngest horse, Bill, who had been skittish crossing several small streams, refused to cross. This meant that we would have to take the long way around. Now it was over a 9 mile hike instead of the 6 mile hike that we had intended after driving over 170 miles. We passed many beautiful small lakes surrounded by pines and willows along this trail.
We camped at Henry’s Lake where if you look closely you will see the small circles where fish are jumping.
After we set up camp some of the boys went fishing. One of the boys caught this whopper trout just at sunset and displayed it with pride.
I have related how we had a cold wet spring and early summer. This made the season is about 1 month behind in the mountains. The problem with this was that the mosquitoes that are usually on the decline in August were around in great swarms. The difference between the dark and light mosquitoes in the photo is how the sun was reflecting off of them.
We used nearly 2 bottles of insect repellent on the trip. We loved it when the wind came up and knocked them down. Once the sun went down and it cooled off quickly they settled into the foliage and didn’t bother us until the next day when the sun came up.
On Wednesday we loaded up the horses and headed for Gunsight Pass, the easiest entrance to the base of Kings Peak.
The trail had switchbacks to make it easier to get over the pass.
The trail crossed some snowfields. This caused the horses some problems because their hoofs and legs sunk deeply into the sun and made them lunge to move forward. From the top of the pass we dropped in Painter Basin.
This area is subarctic tundra with stunted pines and other plants. This was our base camp for the climb to the summit.
Early on Thursday morning we started up to the base of the mountain. Even at the base it is still cold enough at night to freeze water.
Once you start up the actual peak it is all boulders and is quite difficult hiking.
The view is incredible with only distant peaks, basins and lakes to be seen in all directions. There is no civilization that visible in any direction. The peace and quiet was wonderful.
We stayed in the base camp one more night and then hiked all the way back to the vehicles on Friday. This hike was about a distance of about 16 miles, including hunting down the hobbled horses and bringing them back to camp. It was amazing how far hobbled horses can roam in a night. The young horse Bill had now adjusted to crossing streams so we were able to cross the river with the horses and the boys and myself crossed the footbridge. The one from last year can be seen in the photo. The heavy weight of snow from last winter knocked it into the stream.
This one was much more rickety because they only put a few cross poles over the the 3 long poles. Maybe this won’t allow the snow to pile up as high next winter. The last leg of the trail seemed to go on forever and one of the boys kneeled down and kissed the end of the path near the parking lot.
I was surprised at the number of vehicles in both the main parking lot and the horse trailer parking lot. A number of people use the weekend to climb Kings Peak. Many of them seemed to be only prepared for a leisurely day hike with no evidence of gear for emergencies or inclement weather. We were fortunate to have clear weather all 3 days, but this area is known to have thunderstorms come up unexpectedly with snow on the summit during the summer. Even for those prepared there can be dangers. When we got home we found out there was a 12 year old Boy Scout and an experienced 63 year old Australian hiker missing in these same mountains. When going into these areas always be prepared.
We had all of the boys take emergency whistles and signaling mirrors so that if they became lost they could be heard and seen from long distances. We had them use the buddy system so there were always 2 or more boys together. We also made sure that they had warm clothes, water and snacks in their day packs for the summit hike. Right now I don’t think that any of us are ready to head back into the wilderness. Give us a week or 2 of rest and that will change.
“His foundation is in the holy mountains.” Psalms 87:1
Next week: Tomatoes
Dennis Adamson
adamsond@juno.com = Ask Dennis any questions!
For The Family
