King's Peak Loop from Henry's Fork TH

Brett

Brett

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Mar 28, 2013
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After missing the window to get permits for the Teton Crest Trail, I've been doing some research for the annual "long" trip. I've got a pretty solid contender right now in the Uintas. But without a lot of experience up there, I thought I would post the potential trip and get some feedback here. :twothumbs:

The trip will be 5 days, August 29-September 1, starting and ending at the Henry's Fork TH.

DAY 1:
Henry's Fork TH to Dollar Lake: 7.5 miles

DAY 2:
Dollar Lake to Anderson Pass: 6 miles
Drop packs and day hike to Kings Peak
Anderson Pass to Yellowstone Creek: 3 miles

DAY 3:
Yellowstone Creek to Red Castle Lake: 8.5 miles
DAY 4:
Red Castle Lake to Lake Hessie: 8.25 miles

DAY 5:
Lake Hessie to Henry's Fork TH: 10 miles

TOTAL MILEAGE: ~45.25

Any feedback on this proposed route would be great. Suggestions for different destinations/campsites each night, etc. I don't know how accurate the mileage is. I was using an older book for some of the info, and a piece of string on a map for the rest. :) Do you think the dreaded mosquitos will have thinned out by those dates? (Aug. 29-Sept. 1).

Thanks in advance for any responses!
 
Your mileage is likely short, especially if that old book is the Probst book. I think they must have used string too. I'd draw it out on Caltopo or Google Earth and then add like 20% or more depending on how fine you drew the line. Sounds like a fun loop though.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Nick! I didn't know Caltopo existed--it seems to be a pretty sweet tool! I went in and redid all the mileage for this trip, and thought I'd go ahead and post it in case it's useful for somebody else one day.

These distances were taken from Caltopo, zoomed in quite close for better accuracy.
DAY 1:
Henry's Fork TH to Dollar Lake: 7.1 miles

DAY 2:
Dollar Lake to Yellowstone Creek: 10.05 miles (plus any additional distance if bagging Kings Peak)

DAY 3:
Yellowstone Creek to Red Castle Lake: 9.2 miles

DAY 4:
Red Castle Lake to Lake Hessie: 9.79 miles

DAY 5:
Lake Hessie to Henry's Fork TH: 8.95 miles

TOTAL MILEAGE: 45.09
 
school starts (at least Alpine School district) the week before, so crowds should be drastically less than other times.
 
Usually by late August there aren't many mosquitoes. I was there in early-mid August last year and hardly saw one.
 
Brett said:
TOTAL MILEAGE: 45.09
Click to expand...

I'm planning a somewhat similar loop, except I'm going out of China Meadows. In my research I've found you can save a few miles by dropping down to Lower Red Castle Lake off trail as soon as you get past the mountain. I haven't been there yet, but based on Google Earth and photos on line I think camping down by Lower Red Castle or the unnamed lake just east of Lower Red Castle (one place I found labeled it as Langford) gives you better views. Camping down there instead of going all the way up to Red Castle Lake will save some mileage too.
 
DrNed said:
I'm planning a somewhat similar loop, except I'm going out of China Meadows. In my research I've found you can save a few miles by dropping down to Lower Red Castle Lake off trail as soon as you get past the mountain. I haven't been there yet, but based on Google Earth and photos on line I think camping down by Lower Red Castle or the unnamed lake just east of Lower Red Castle (one place I found labeled it as Langford) gives you better views. Camping down there instead of going all the way up to Red Castle Lake will save some mileage too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!
 
You should be good on the mosquitos. Pretty areas up there. Good choice! As @Nick said, the crowds should be starting to thin out right about then as well. If you waited till just after Labor Day, then crowds would be really thin, but the landscape would probably be browning out real quick then as well.

Seems like everyone is wanting to do a loop with Kings Peak and Red Castle this year since I posted my desire to do it on my 2015 wish list. I'm glad I could inspire others. Just kidding! I can't take credit for that. But now, just to be different, I'm thinking I'll have to take it from a different angle by starting and finishing at EFBF coming over Bald Mountain over there. :p

In all seriousness, I'm torn between doing such a loop in August as I had planned, or taking up an invite to do the whole Highline Trail a month later, assuming I can get off work during that time and my wife can get some help from her mom to watch the kids.
 
WasatchWill said:
If you waited till just after Labor Day, then crowds would be really thin, but the landscape would probably be browning out real quick then as well.
Click to expand...

I love that 'browned out' look that you get up there in the fall. I did a trip the week after Labor Day to Four Lakes basin one year and I think we only saw like 4 people on the entire hike! It's amazing how fast the crowds die off at the end of August.

echo-lake-3-jpg.19564
 
WasatchWill said:
Seems like everyone is wanting to do a loop with Kings Peak and Red Castle this year since I posted my desire to do it on my 2015 wish list. I'm glad I could inspire others. Just kidding! I can't take credit for that. But now, just to be different, I'm thinking I'll have to take it from a different angle by starting and finishing at EFBF coming over Bald Mountain over there. :p

In all seriousness, I'm torn between doing such a loop in August as I had planned, or taking up an invite to do the whole Highline Trail a month later, assuming I can get off work during that time and my wife can get some help from her mom to watch the kids.
Click to expand...

Haha, well if it makes you feel any better I never read your 2015 wish list ;) But now that I know that's a thing I'll have to rummage through people's and get some ideas! When we first decided that the Uintas would be the big trip of the year, we initially wanted to do the Highline Trail (not the whole thing, but from Chepeta to the Highline Trailhead) but eventually abandoned the idea after being unable to find a viable solution to the shuttling problem. Maybe in the future we will have to find someone on this site who would be interested going in opposite directions and handing off keys with us!
 
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