Summit County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: August 2006
Author: Theresa Gergen

I backpacked in (7.5 miles) from the Henrys Fork Trailhead one evening after it stopped raining, to Dollar Lake. Expect mosquitoes and flies in force, unless it's cold enough to kill them. Campsites are nice and plentiful. Horses had torn up much of the trail on the way in, due to the mud and rain at the time. There were horses around at some of the campsites. I used a water filter (not purifier) to take water directly from the lake and it was yellow in my clear water bag. I vomited the next day on the way to South Kings and would like to blame it on the water, although I was fine the rest of my time in there. So you might want to bring chemical tabs or enough fuel to boil water just in case. One of my guidebooks had suggested that and I'd ignored it.

On the second day, I climbed Kings Peak (see report). The following day, I hiked around the north side of Dollar Lake (south side involves willow bashing), then bushwhacked up to and along the ridge to the 12,089 point, up Gilbert's west slopes and ridge (Class 2), down to the connecting saddle, then up Gunsight's north ridge. I returned to the 12,089 point and down to camp as I'd come. This was a short day and I just barely made it back before the late morning storms started.