Backpacking claimed yet another victim.
King's Peak (13,528') is the highest point in Utah and the gain to get it from the usual trailhead is a fairly reasonable 4,200', just a little more than Baldy. The problem is it's a 25 mile roundtrip. I've never done that in a day and I was a little worried about trying to do King's in one day and then having a big problem on the return. Plus, I wasn't acclimatized to 12k'+.
So, my plan was to backpack it, especially since the first several miles don't have much gain. That calculus was the same I'd used a couple weeks prior when I failed to get Mt Langley in the Sierras. I expended a lot of energy carrying a heavy pack then setting up camp. Then, despite wearing multiple layers, I nearly froze and the only sleep I got was a brief nightmare. The next day I couldn't go higher than 12k'.
But, this time I thought that if I reduced the weight I wouldn't be repeating the same mistake and expecting a different result.
So, the first day I hiked up about 7.5 miles. Someone had told me about a camp spot at a lake after Dollar Lake that had a bench. I stayed at that lake but only found the bench - a large rock - after I'd already set up camp. I wish I'd spent more time looking for it because not having a place to sit is yet another one of the downsides of backpacking. The views of the mountains from where I camped reminded me a bit of Glacier NP with the loose sedimentary bands. It was hard to enjoy without a couch or something.
The next day I started for the peak. You can see the trail in the first image. Kings is the one in the center, at the back. The trail goes to a saddle formed by the left peak, traverses around the other side of the left peak, and then heads up to King's. Whether by intention or not, it's hard to see the trail to the saddle but it's there. There's a funnish little low Class 2 section (or funnish going up; it was a little too slippery on the return). Then, you wander aimlessly across an alpine meadow. Then, a part I really didn't like: a traverse hopping between sharp, loose boulders. And, that's where I decided to turn around. I certainly could have pushed myself to continue but I was really feeling the backpacking and the altitude. I was worried about the return and I didn't want to do that traverse again. I was also worried about taking a long time getting from 12.5k' to 13.5k' and not getting back before next week.
When I got back to my camp a thunderstorm started. It wasn't that strong or cold so I decided to pack up. Which you don't have to do on dayhikes. The return was no fun for the same reason as the return from Langley. When a trail is steep, gravity is doing most of the work. When a trail is mostly level with a slight descent, you're doing more work. Plus, there are several blips on the return, maybe a dozen of them. And, I was still carrying a heavy pack.
Hey, it was good exercise. And, I not only saw a couple of llama, but someone was using a goat as a pack animal.
I'll try it as a dayhike and hope for a different result.
After the failure I went east looking for a success but had more failure on the way. I was treated to a massive lightning storm from the safety of my car as I drove along I-80, then I spent the night in my car at the Teton Reservoir Campground (13 miles south of Rawlins, Wyoming). Unfortunately, on the way out of their I hit a rock the wrong way and blew a tire. Then, my choice was to either spend a few hours driving on a temporary tire along backroads to Laramie or Cheyenne, or get gouged on the price of a new tire. The only shop in Rawlins that had a tire in my size gave me the "not only an out-of-towner, but an out-of-towner I hate" price.
