Trip Report: King’s Throne – Yukon & Alaska Road Trip

KING’S THRONE FACT’S

King’s Throne is exactly as you imagine: A mountain with “The Seat” built in for a Giant [Think giant’s north of the wall from GoT x5]. This climb in Kluane National Park is a steep trek across open ridge lines as you climb up and around “The Seat” of the King’s Throne, while overlooking the sweeping views of Kathleen Lake. Passed The Seat, the trail is unmarked, not maintained, and windy A.F. You feel like your doing a non-stop scramble, yet the views at the top make it worthy.

Distance: 15-16km (9.3 -10 miles) Roundtrip
Time: 5-8 hours
Elevation Gain: ~1442m (4,729ft)
Max Elevation: 1990m (6529ft)

When to do the Hike: June-September
When to did we do the hike: July, 2017

Overnight: No; too windy to camp (camp at the base in and around Kathleen Lake 
Map of the Route & GPS data: Yes!! Click here for Route

HK Plan: Day Hike; Summit Climb

Side Tip – if you are unable to commit to the summit or want something short and sweet, you are able to hike up to the cirque (or “The Seat”) of King’s Throne and get an exceptional view overlooking Kathleen Lake. [about 3-5 hrs & ~540m of elevation gain]

Note: This hike is part of our Alaska & Yukon Road trip collection of hikes we’ll be writing about.

 

Part 1 – Trailhead to “The Seat”

After we laid claim to our camping spot down at Kathleen Lake Campground, we took the truck over to Cottonwood trailhead located just off the campground road and before the day use area at the lake.

As we set forth, the first 2km were pretty mellow as we walked along an old mining road on the south side of the Lake. At ~2km mark, there is a fork: left for King’s Throne/Cottonwood vs. right for Kathleen Lake. Go left. [Rule of thumb for this trail, stay left] As you continue along, there is another split in the road: left for King’s Throne vs right for Cottonwood Trail. [Again, go left]. After we go left, K realizes he needs to now put his boots on as the hard work (steady incline up the throne) begins.

As we switch back-to-back-to-back up through the trees, we eventually clear past the treeline and get the clear shot of Kathleen Lake and the adjacent area. [This was about 35 minutes into the hike]. The trail base itself has now transitioned from firm-ish ground to a path of loose rocks. When I stop looking out at the sweeping lake view, I focus back onto the mountain and see our future: a clear path of what look likes non-stop switchbacks… skip forward past the sweat induced switchbacks we reach The Seat. [Note we reach the seat about an hour into our hike]

The Seat [or Cirque] is a great spot to take a brief break, eat some food and enjoy the incredible views overlooking Kathleen Lake and the adjacent valley in and around Haines Junction. The Seat itself is filled with rocky terrain and can be extremely windy depending on the time of the year. When you look back into the cirque you see the ridgeline you traverse from left to right to get to the summit.

Part 2 – The Seat to The Summit

As we continued passed The Seat [facing the mountain you trek up the ridge starting from the left side], the trail becomes much more difficult; its steep, and there are some lovely scree areas where the trail line becomes a little hard too see. The biggest challenge I personally faced climbing up along the ridge line was the brunt force of the wind coming through in major gusts and trekking up the steep scree slopes. I felt as if I were going to be blown off the edge at times. [Mary Poppin’s style]. It’s a mental challenge where you just need to focus on what’s ahead of you.

Climbing along the ridge, the views open up around you to your left as you traverse up the mountain. [e.g. Dezadeash Lake] Sooner than later, you come up and over to the plateau and the mountains in behind explode into view.

It is however, windy. That same windy I was describing before. The sights you are rewarded with along the plateau are incredible. There are magnificent views of valleys, rivers, lakes, mountains and soo much to see. Continuing along the ridge line you reach King’s Throne Summit, which is narrow path.

Once you have enjoyed the incredible view, you can slowly make the trek back down the mountain. Crossing back along the plateau and then along the ridge line, you are faced with the gorgeous views of Kathleen Lake and the valley below. Take you time on the steep ridges as you traverse down. [e.g. poles are very handy, especially when the gust of winds come at you].

We finally made it back to the site, time to sit back and relax! Believe it or not it’s about 11pm in this photo, that’s summer solstice for you. Take care and thanks for reading! If you have any questions, reach out to us on Instagram!