Latest Rave: A Canyoneering Journal: March 24 & 25th, 2001 - page 2

 

Kings Peak - an Incredible Ski Tour, p2.

We trundled onward. Snow conditions were less than ideal. On the trail, not so bad, but not very fast, especially at 9000 feet with overnight packs. Off the trail - a thin crust over 18" of big TG crystals. Good think we're not getting near any avalanche terrain. After 3 miles and 3 hours, we arrived at the campground marking the end of the summer road. Hmm. It was now one o'clock. At this rate, our desired 12 miles to camping spot would only require another 9 hours, or until 10 PM. Perfect! Here, Wiley and I review the map.

Ah. We only had to remove the skis at a couple of spots. So much fun.

Finally, we make camp. No, we did not make 12 miles, more like 8, at most. We found a nice dugout area from a winter camper, and made our little camp, trying out the new BD Betamid. As soon as the sun went down, it got cold, or course.

Jim was really into trying to get there, I was not. So we split up. Here's what I'm looking like, being very excited.         Jim valiantly skied onward - actually making it to the point where he could see gunsight pass. Moi, this is as far as I got - with a hazy view of the high peaks that surrounded us. I dashed back to camp and took a quick nap.

James and Wiley made it back after a bit, and take a quick snooze before we headed down. The ski down was surprisingly ... well, not really. It was a pain. Not steep enough down to ski so well, with enough little uphills to want skins, but not long enough to make it worth the trouble. We did get to do some fine skating out the road the last bit. Any adventure that has the highest peak in a state automatically gets one star, right? Given that, in the unlikely event that one made it to the top, the Kings Peak via Henry's Fork gets a stunning 0 stars in my book. True, I hate to leave things undone, so I'll be back real soon. Just kidding. Back to Page One??