"Kings Peak was an intense 3-day sufferfest of a trip. I'm glad I did it, and I learned A LOT from mistakes I made on this trip. Type-2 fun for sure, I'll never forget this summit experience. If I ever do it again, I'll do so many things differently. 26.6 miles and 4202 vert total. Day 1, we hiked 7.8 miles from the trailhead to Dollar Lake. I over-packed, so my pack was HEAVY (I will be reassessing everything I brought, and NEVER packing that heavy again.) We set up camp, made dinner, and got to bed pretty quickly. Day 2, We both forgot our hiking poles at camp, and made the unfortunate decision to carry on without them instead of going back for them. We hiked 11 miles from camp, to the peak, and back. Something around 3 miles or more of that was a class 1-2 scramble. Not difficult or overly technical in itself, but it was a long, sustained amount of scrambling, far past anything my dog and I have done before, because of the distance. It was difficult, my German Shepherd needed assistance in several places, but we made it to the peak in almost one piece. I strained my knee (probably from carrying my over-packed pack on day 1), and pup's paws were hurt from wearing his shoes for..." — ghostofsws • Aug 11, 2025

"Amazing hike! Camped at Dollar Lake, then hiked up and out the next day. Definitely an unconventional way of doing it but I liked it. My phone died when I got back to dollar lake, so it was really about 28 miles for me. I also think Peakery under reported my vertical gain but it’s whatever!" — GeorgeEagle • Aug 8, 2025

"June 11, 2025. Planned to backpack in on the 10th and camp at Dollar Lake, but afternoon thunderstorms changed that plan. Camped at the trailhead on the 10th instead. The next morning decided to hike in and see how long the blue skies lasted. Once I got past Dollar Lake at about 10:30am, clouds started forming. Knew it would be another few hours to reach the summit and didn’t want to risk getting caught up there in a storm. Turned around at 11,233. Got back to the trailhead around 1pm and it started storming soon after. Packed in snowshoes for nothing since I didn’t get up to the snow. Will be back when there is no snow for another attempt. Abundant moose sign. Saw one moose at the trailhead and one on the trail. " — runningvegan • Jun 11, 2025

"Did this as a our one big outing due to endless thunderstorms. Beautiful area and during early July it has no one else there. There was snow but crampons and boots were not needed though carried." — Irrationalist • Jul 4, 2023

"Did this as a our one big outing due to endless thunderstorms. Beautiful area and during early July it has no one else there. There was snow but crampons and boots were not needed though carried." — Irrationalist • Jul 4, 2023