On Top of Utah: Hiking to Kings Peak

Pictures can be found on G+

After more than ten years of no camping, this last spring I finally got back into it with trips out to Pedernalles Falls, Lost Maples, and Lake Georgetown (car camping and backpacking).  I've been itching to get back into real mountains though.  This week I had the opportunity to fly out to Utah and go camping with Brian up in the Uintas.

I flew most of my gear out with me.  I did pick up some Mountain House meals at Emergecy Essentials and stove fuel at Sports Authority.  In Austin it was hard to fathom how cold the mountains will be so I ended up borrowing some cold weather clothes from my brother-in-law as well as a pack (mine didn't fit in my luggage) and a flashlight (either I forgot it or the TSA took it).

Monday 

I dropped off my rental car and got picked up by Brian (Altitude: 4,226 feet).  The guy at the car rental place saw my camping gear and checked an obscure place for damage to the car common to driving out to national parks.  I haven't heard word yet if they will charge me for it or not.

The drive out was about three hours.  We had to drive out to Wyoming, through some road construction, and finally too many miles on dirt roads.  We arrived at Henry's Fork Trailhead a little past noon (Altitude: 9,430 feet).  There is a composting toilet and no running water.  The trailhead listed fire bans for Dollar and Henry Lake so we decided on stopping at Bear Lake and Blanchard Lake (with Island as our backup) along the way to King's Peak.

The hike out was beautiful.  We started off climbing up a ridge above a creek and passed through several meadows.  We didn't notice the turnoff to Alligator Lake.  There was no sign for it and I assumed the log was meant for trail reclamation when its really meant to reduce erosion   At Elkhorn Crossing we took the fork to Henry Lake.  Those uphills were rough.  We also had rain off and on through our hike out.  Eventually we came around to Bear Lake.

I had a headache during the hike and at camp but I was a bit dehydrated from the less humid air of Utah (never thought I'd claim Utah is dry, oh how Austin has changed me).  Also around camp Brian and I got a little lightheaded which we assumed is from adjusting to the altitude.

Our spot along the lake was gorgeous and most of the time the lake was a mirror.  I pulled out and setup my hammock and used it to hold gear like a table as I finished unloading.  I ate my Chicken Alfredo Mountain House meal in my hammock overlooking Bear Lake.  We then cleaned up camp, hung our bear/critter bag, talked over a campfire Brian made thanks to his backpacking saw, and went to bed.

Tuesday

Brian took my pump to get himself water for the day and it was going terribly slow.  This is only my second time using my pump and didn't pay attention to the field servicing or post-trip servicing instructions.  After some examining of the pump I hypothesized that the filter needed cleaning and luckily Brian had a scrub pad I could use.  That did the trick.  Overall we found we liked my MSR Miniworks EX Microfilter due to the side pump action (works great as a Thighmaster!), the serviceable filter, and the easy separation between contaminated and clean parts.

After breakfast and water pumping, we broke camp and headed for our next stop, either Blanchard Lake or Island Lake.  We passed through some wooded areas, some meadows, and saw ponds and lakes along the way.  Eventually we came to the no-fire map/sign for Henry Lake.  We were confused because we didn't see Grass Lake but upon looking back we could see it through the meadow.   This map showed the tree lines which made us rule out Blanchard Lake (since we were aiming to have fires) which is good because on Wednesday we saw Blanchard from the hike to Gunsight Pass and it would have been a long, rough, cross-country hike to it.

We used the sign as a guide for us to find Island Lake which turned out pretty easy.  Right before the sign was a meadow and we just followed the tree line out.  We first came to a campsite on the south-east side but wanted to be closer to water.  So we dropped packs and split up.  I went along the east bank and Brian along the south.  Brian didn't find any campsites so we settled for one I found.  It was great, right on the lake's coast, had fire rings (which we had to expand to satisfy our pyro tendencies) with lots of rocks and logs to sit on, great places for tents, rocks to take our packs off on, etc.  The main downside is that there were more mosquitoes than Bear Lake.  It is on the east shore a little north of the island in the lake next to a big rock.  We expected Island Lake and especially our campsite to be isolated but we ran into some fishermen on our first night there and some campers later.

The weather changed on us every hour.  It was a light sprinkle when we setup tents and then as I pumped water it alternated between hot, rainy, and sleeting    We then cooked our meals (Mountain House Lasagna for me) and again I ate then relaxed in the hammock.  Brian took the time to find edible or medicinal plants and came back with a natural insect replant   We intended to go to bed early so we could have an early start on Kings Peak tomorrow but Brian's "quick" fire was not so quick thanks to some really dense wood we found that burns long and hot.

Wednesday

We got up, ate, loaded our day packs, and left camp around 8am.  We took the trail to Gunsight Pass.  Unfortunately the map was misleading.  It showed the trail going straight to the Dollar Lake / Henry Lake trails joining up to go to Gunsight Pass.  It turns out the trail actually curves back around to Dollar Lake.  There is a turn off to head to Gunsight Pass but it starts off not being worn at all and you have to rely on walking between two cairns off to the side of the trail and heading straight between the next two cairns.  After that it is well traveled.

Gunsight pass was rough.  We were scrambling up rocks for a decent distance though we were able to use our hiking sticks for it.  The view from the pass (Altitude; 11,888 feet) was beautiful.  Painter's Basin and where we came from looked great.  We then followed the trail on the map down into the basin.  There are a lot of trails away and alternative trails which muddied things a bit but we figured it out, stay to the right until Anderson Pass was our rule.

The climb up to Anderson Pass starts off steep as you go along a stream (the left side of the stream is a lot easier) but then is a lot more gradual with some switch backs followed by some hiking through some sloped meadows.  It is telling regarding my fear of heights that once at Anderson Pass (Altitude: 12,700 feet), I saw only the top of a cliff of another mountain and my knees went weak thinking how far the cliff (I wasn't even on) drops down (which I couldn't even see).  We started off our summitting using our poles but after the first bit we had to stow them in Brian's pack as we had to scramble up on our hands and feet rocks with some being pretty loose (someone should teach those rocks some morals).

On the way up a guy coming down warned us of bad weather (which the sky still looked good so he must have gotten a report by radio).  Also as we passed people we asked if a Garmin GPS we saw in the meadows before Anderson Pass was theirs and it was surprising how many people lost their GPS but at other spots.  We did find the owner and it was gone on our way back so we assume he got it.

We reached what we suspected was the top of Kings Peak (Altitude: 13,528 feet) at around 1:30 pm.  Once there we realized I was out of water and Brian was almost out (my first time using a bladder).  So we stopped there despite being unsure if this was Kings Peak or a false summit (turns out it was Kings Peak and what we saw further along the ridge was South Kings Peak).  On the way down we had a habitual problem of not quite finding the trail.  Right as we got out of the worse part and switched back to poles, it started snowing.  Back near Anderson Pass a family was concerned about some other clouds bringing lightning.  So they rushed out by going along the mountain ridge straight to Gunsight Pass.  We weren't concerned since we'd be in the basin most of the hike back and the clouds didn't look like they'd come our way.  The snow didn't last much longer.  We headed into the basin, almost caught up with the family at the top of Gunsight, and headed back to camp.  We were in a bit of a hurry due to the lack of water.  We stopped twice to get two mouthfuls each of water.  The first time we both ate and the second time only Brian ate since my mouth was too dry to attempt it.  I tried to keep talking to a minimum and tried to prefer nose-breathing to mouth-breathing (which is difficult when you get winded on any sort of uphill due to the altitude).  At the bottom of Gunsight Pass towards camp, we ran into two friendly brothers who were going to camp in Painter's Basin. They had some pretty nice guns on them (what looked like a .357 magnum and some kind of semi-auto pistol).  Brian would have complemented them on the guns except he was a bit nervous with both of them resting their hands on them.  They pointed out some moose up ahead in some brush to the side of the trail.  Brian was able to spot the antlers but I wasn't.

Just about every half hour Brian made some kind of Lord of the Rings reference, whether it be about the beautiful countryside (which we felt background music from Jenna would have been fitting) or the climb to Kings Peak being likened to Sam and Frodo's journey through Mordor.

We got back to camp at 5:50 pm.  We pumped enough water to drink immediately and then more to cook.  During the after-dinner pumping I felt feverishly hot.  I went to bed as soon as possible.  At one point in the night I woke up and was sweating bullets but later woke up and was perfectly fine.

Thursday

We were playing today by ear, our plans depending on if I still had a temperature and how Brian's legs/feet were doing.  We felt well enough to head on to Bear Lake.  We lazily packed up camp and got to Bear in time to unpack and cook lunch.

The weather was great.  I got on shorts and my water shows and walked out into the lake to clean myself off.  After pumping water, I just lay back in the hammock for hours enjoying the weather, the view, and the lack of civilization.  My legs ended up burning which just made them match my arms from the hike to Kings Peak.

Brian went on another edible/medicinal plant hunt.  He came back with Indian Paintbrush which is more medicinal and should only be eaten in small doses.  He didn't like it.

We burned a short fire and went to bed early so we could break camp early on Friday.

Friday

We gathered everything up and left camp at 7:45 am.  We made it back to the truck at 11:50 am to enjoy our can of peaches each.

We got back in Salt Lake tired, with chapped lips and running noses (both of our noses never stopped) ready to relax.  I'm surprised that I recovered enough that on Saturday I did the Herriman Stampede 4 mile race (I highly recommend it for people in the area, great price for the frills).

Postmortem

The Drive

We were unsure where we would be able to get gas but we were fine the whole way.  The Pilot at the east edge of Evanston had a good price and had Subway which was great to eat on Friday.

As for cell coverage, I had no service on T-Mobile once outside of the Salt Lake Valley.  I did get some  non-data roaming coverage in Wyoming.  Brian had coverage most of the way out to the trailhead on Sprint.

The Hike

We couldn't have asked for better campsites and the views from the trails were beautiful.  Brian titled this hike "Better Than Expected".

It would have been good to cut down the distance to Kings Peak but our choices were: camp at Dollar Lake (no fires), camp along the trail before Gunsight Pass (no or little water to pump), camp at Painter's Basin (it would have been rough getting full packs up Gunsight Pass and we suspect camping areas were on the opposite side of the basin but there were people heading out that way), or cut along the ridge from Gunsight Pass to Anderson Pass (no trail, loose rocks, and staying at altitude longer but like I said, some people do this).

168 ounces of water between two people wasn't enough to go from Island Lake to Kings Peak and back.

The Equipment

MSR Miniworks EX Microfilter: Already covered.

Nalgene Cantene (96 oz): Brian and I both had one of these and they worked great.  Brian used it as his primary water container while I used it around camp and instead used water bottles on the trail.  The screw top is compatible with the MSR filter.

Chinese Camp Stove with Ignition: This is compatible with the MSR fuel canisters, is cheap, and worked great.  I'm glad I did an equipment test before I left though.  The spark from the ignition came out too far from the fuel output so I had to bend it more towards the center.  Even with the adjustment, it sometimes took a couple of tries to light the fuel at camp.  This is much smaller and easier to pack than my old Coleman white-fuel stove with built-in refillable fuel tank.  The stove portion is even smaller than the Pocket Rockets.

Work Gloves: I just use cheap work gloves from Home Depot (is that even real leather?) to work the fire or handle my pot of boiling water.

Mountain House Dinners: Brian used meals from eFoods Direct.  My meals typically had less sodium (some Mountain House meals are low sodium and others aren't, so pay attention), were faster to cook (add boiling water to pouch rather than cooking in boiling water), required less cleaning (you eat out of the pouch), and cooled off to an edible temperature faster.  I used about half a MSR fuel canister while Brian used more than one.  I liked the Lasagna and Sweet and Sour Pork (high sodium).  The Pasta Primavera was ok but it had a lot of vegetables which is good on a hike like this.  The Chicken Alfredo and New Orleans Style Chicken with Rice were alright and I will probably skip them in the future in favor of even better meals.

Oatmeal Packets: I continue to find oatmeal packets (stored in a ziplock bag to avoid getting it damp from dew or rain) to work well for breakfast.  There is more cleanup than the Mountain House meals but still quick to cook.

Sawvivor:  Brian has this and I was impressed by how light it was and how well it worked at cutting wood for our campfires.

High Uinta Gear Trekking Pole: Traditionally I use a single pole made from a closet rod that has an eye hook on the end to help in putting bear bags up.  That didn't exactly fit in my luggage so I went with these low cost poles recommended to me by Brian.  They worked great.  I didn't find myself shortening them or relying on the shocks.  My static configuration worked well for me to keep my balance while I admired the surroundings, help me from falling when going downhill, and help me uphill by pulling myself up with my arms.  I'm unsure whether I'll use my closet rod or these once I'm home but I recommend them to others who don't have poles.



Thanks to Brian for looking over this and reminding me of some parts of the hike and providing some corrections.

The Prodigal Son

A friend and I recently had a conversation about applications of the parable of the Prodigal Son in our lives (see her post) and it got me thinking on several points on the interpretation of this parable.

When asked about the interpretation of this parable, Joseph Smith taught "I have a key by which I understand the scriptures. I enquire, what was the question which drew out the answer, or caused Jesus to utter the parable?" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 277).  The Pharisees were criticizing Christ for sitting with sinners.  He then taught several parables regarding the rejoicing over those who repent.

The parable of the Prodigal Son stands out to us among those because we get a more intimate look into their lives.

One lesson we gain by this more intimate look is that there is not just rejoicing over a lost child of God but that in their journey back they can and should aim high.  The prodigal son came back only aiming for telestial, maybe terrestrial, glory in asking to be a servant (see D&C 76:112).  The father told his son to set his sights higher, to that of the celestial kingdom, by acknowledging their kinship (see D&C 76:56-58).

Another lesson is from the Other Son.  We get the reminder to not be jealous of the rejoicing for the returned sinner (see Elder Holland, The Other Prodigal.  There is sadly a tendency though to over-analyze this son since those who would do such analysis probably see more of themself in this son than the prodigal son.  Within the overall context of the parable, one might try to make the Other Son a surrogate for the Pharisees.  President Kimball warned against being overly harsh in judging the Other Son and taught that it is better to have not sinned than to have sinned and repented (Spencer W Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, Chapter 20).

Focusing too much on the Other Son loses our focus on what the focus of this parable is (rejoicing when sinners repent and come back).  We end up incessantly playing a single note tune similar to the pitfall of gospel hobbies which Elder Packer warned about:

Some members of the Church who should know better pick out a hobby key or two and tap them incessantly, to the irritation of those around them. They can dull their own spiritual sensitivities. They lose track that there is a fulness of the gospel, . . . [which they reject] in preference to a favorite note. This becomes exaggerated and distorted, leading them away into apostasy.

Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, p. 44

Reading the Other Son's words in context of the teaching setting, he seems to be there to fulfill the role of an "audience surrogate" (WARNING: TV Tropes) so we gain an understanding of the father's thoughts.  This doesn't diminish the opportunity to learn from the Other Son but it puts it in context to not look beyond the mark.

Analogies break down after a certain point and looking past that can lead to a skewed perspective on the gospel.  We don't see is what happens to the Prodigal Son in the long run.  The truth being taught has been covered.  We can extrapolate a couple of possibilities based on gospel truths we already know.

The first is the more sad to contemplate intepretation.  The Prodigal Son returned to the presence of his father but with his inheritance wasted much as David had fallen from his exaltation (see D&C 132:39).  I think its much better to contemplate on the interpretation that I would hope would be more broadly applicable and with much less dire results.  This interpretation ends right where Christ does.  Unlike an inheritance from an earthly father, the inheritance from our Heavenly Father is not zero-sum, to give to one son does not diminish from another.  There is infinitely more to dole out to those who squandered but repent.  There is hope for something unfathomably great for those who repent.

Giving in Life

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Matthew 16:25

I've been contemplating this principle since a talk given in church a while ago.  One specific point he brought up is the classic idea that we shouldn't cast blame on the teacher for not getting anything out of a class.  "What do I get?" is the wrong question, the wrong perspective.  We should have the perspective of "What do I give?".  It is amazing how much we grow when we aren't seeking our own growth but those around us.  In my studies recently I've come across this principle regarding multiple topics.

Regarding this topic, Marion G Romney said

We lose our life by serving and lifting others. By so doing we experience the only true and lasting happiness. Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.
Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another? Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. In that day there will be no need for a commandment because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service.

Marion G Romney, Ensign, November 1982, The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance

Below are quotes that explore this concept applied to specific principles.

Sacrifice

President Gordon B. Hinckley explained: “As we look with love and gratitude to God, and as we serve others with no apparent recompense for ourselves, there will come a greater sense of service toward our fellow human beings, less thinking of self and more reaching out to others. This principle of love is the basic essence of goodness” ( Standing for Something, 9).
I have thought of this often and have reached the conviction that in a strange way those who have are actually dependent upon those who have not. Something spiritual happens to a person when he reaches out to help someone else.

Glenn L Pace, Ensign, June 1993, Infinite Needs and Finite Resources

As givers gain control of their desires and properly see other needs in light of their own wants, then the powers of the gospel are released in their lives. They learn that by living the great law of consecration they insure not only temporal salvation but also spiritual sanctification

Spencer W Kimball, Ensign, November 1977, Welfare Services: The Gospel in Action

Discipleship

It is not only important for the growth of the members involved to exercise their own claims on God for assurance about the direction of the kingdom, but it is also important for followers to prepare themselves to follow in such a way that their influence could be much more helpful to the leaders in reaching shared goals. Not only do followers who proceed, as Brigham Young said, "with a reckless confidence" fail to develop themselves in their own power and resources, but also they deprive the leaders of the kind of support they deserve and need at times from followers who are themselves developing the skills required. The 58th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants indicates that the Lord expects members of the Church to accomplish much on their own without incessant institutional insistence or prodding. It is neither realistic nor wise to expect leaders to provide all of the answers all of the time, to provide solutions to all of the problems that will arise. This would require leaders to be omniscient; further, it would require of them the kind of sustained energy and time which is simply not humanly possible to give over protracted periods of time.

Neal A Maxwell, ... A More Excellent Way: Essays in Leadership, Looking at Leadership

Love and Marriage

The teachings of Christ suggest that we should begin our search for an eternal companion with greater concern about our ability to give love than about our need to receive it. Of the Savior, John wrote: "We love him, because he first loved us"
Indeed, it may be our own capacity to give love that makes us most lovable. The greater our own personal substance is and the deeper our own mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves are, the greater will be our capacity to nurture and love others, especially our companion.

Marlin K Jensen, Ensign, October 1994, A Union of Love and Understanding

Leadership

In today's world, it is common to measure one's personal growth by ever-greater positions of responsibility in the workplace or by pay raises that signal increasing personal accomplishment. We often look at visible positions of responsibility as an indication that a person is an important contributor. It is not surprising then that many people struggle to know how best to measure their growth in spiritual matters.
I have heard many Latter-day Saints question their own standing because they have not been called to leadership positions in the Church. But is our progress properly measured by leadership callings?
In fact, leadership does not require a calling. Some people who exert the uplifting and encouraging influence that constitutes true leadership do so with no calling or position

...
Leadership callings are much like training wheels on a bicycle. The training wheels allow a child to learn how to balance and ride with confidence. A leadership calling puts people in a position to learn how to love, be patient, and persuade through pure knowledge and kindness. They may also learn that any attempt to compel behavior is accompanied by withdrawal of the Spirit and decreased effectiveness.
After our release, we will find out if we have grown and learned while in our calling. Have we learned to love and serve others without the calling being the impetus? Have we learned to serve with power as an influence for good simply because of who we have become?

Craig Merrill, Ensign, January 2012, Leadership the Lord's Way