High Points #45 and #46 - NV and UT

Base camp at King's Peak, UT

August was the time to bag 2 more high points in Nevada and Utah.  This takes us to numbers 45 and 46 with only 3 to go - Montana, Wyoming and California (not including Alaska - our final total will be 49).  Little did we know in August, 2006 when we climbed our first high point, Mount Rainier in Washington, that 13 years later we'd be bagging #45 and #46.  What an awesome adventure this has been!

Boundary Peak, Nevada - 13,147' - 9 miles - high point #45 for us.  The pictures don't show the difficulty of this climb.  Our main mistake was flying from Baltimore to Las Vegas the day before and then within 24 hours ending up on the top of a 13,145' mountain with no time to acclimate to the elevations.  Despite the struggles breathing and the steep climb in lots of scree, we made it!  We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the quiet beauty of the top on our own.

Long drive on a dirt road to get to the trailhead - beautiful sunrise

start of the climb through some brush before getting to the scree

it doesn't look that bad but it's steep and it's all scree

Looks like just a little further!  Ha - that little further took a long time!

Ahhhh - the top!

Recovery Days -
Great Basin National Park:  What a beautiful stop which gave us time to be at elevation and get more acclimatized for Utah.

Olympic Park - Park City, Utah

Kings Peak, Utah- 13,527' - 28 miles - high point #46 for us.  At this point we were rested and ready for the elevation and trek ahead. 

Day 1 - 9 miles to "base camp". 

This had to be one of the most spectacular backpacking sites I've stayed in.  The only downside was we were not prepared for the cold which was not forecasted.  We shivered through the night and had a very early rise to get some hot liquids in us.  In the dark we set out for the summit.

Day 2 - Summit Day - 10 miles round trip from our tent to the summit and back.

We made it back to the tent around 2:30 and had a decision to make.  Either freeze another night or pack up and hike 9 more miles to the car.  The idea of a warm bed, even with the pain of a 19 mile hiking day, won out and so we packed up and hit the trail by 3:30.

Day 2 - Pack out - back to the car - 9 miles (total for the day 19 miles). 

Almost there!  We arrived back at the car just before dark at 7:30pm.  Another 1.5 hour drive and we were happily resting our wearing feet at the hotel. 

A day later back to civilization of a different world - Las Vegas!  A day to rest before our trip back to PA.  We got to visit with Tom's cousin and wife for a quick lunch and some time at the pool with my brother. 

What a fantastic trip!  3 more high points to go...maybe in 2020!

Til next time...Happy Trails!