High Sierra Trail > Whitney > Mineral King

[yogihiker617]

A group of us is considering a hike from Crescent Meadow t/h to Mt. Whitney in 6 days and then exiting via Mineral King (Farewell Gap trail) for a total of 10 hiking days. This will eliminate the car shuttle required (if exiting via Whitney Portal) and allow us to explore a new area - Mineral King.

Curious if anyone has done this and what their thoughts are.

Cheers,
Andy

[AlmostThere]

When?

Also, read viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4205" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How does it eliminate a car shuttle to exit in either location? I'd almost rather have a car at Mineral King than ride all those busses around from the Portal...

[RoguePhotonic]

Are you planning to go back to the Kern and drop all the way down to take Coyote Pass or the old Shotgun Pass route?

[DavePloessel]

IIRC, he could link back to crescent meadows via redwood meadows from min king with no shuttle at all. I did something similar a few years back: HST to Whitney, where the party I was with went on to the portal and the car we had dropped there, and I volunteered to hike back to CM to get the other car. I ended up going back via colby pass-cloud canyon-deadman-Elisabeth pass though because there was less hiking in places i'd already been. I was also considering doing soomething like you are and hitting MK. should be a beautiful hike.

[maverick]

As AT posted the link, some more info about your groups experience and abilities
would be helpful.

[yogihiker617]

Thanks for your feedback and additional questions everyone!

We (4, maybe 5 hikers) have permits for 8/23 - 9/1. As of now, we plan to leave a car at Mineral King (exit t/h) and one at Crescent Meadow. We want to avoid shuttling from Lone Pine to Crescent Meadow. In our years of backpacking in the Sierras, we have yet to explore Mineral King so we think a shorter shuttle plus new scenery will add to our hiking experience.

We are a mix of level 2/3 hikers with some x-country experience, and thus will likely be sticking to trails on this trip. Collectively, we are comfortable with 10 - 15 mile hiking days.

Our plan is hike the HST to Whitney in 6 days and hike out to Mineral King via Franklin Pass (not Farewell Gap as I initially mentioned - my apologies) in 4 days. The following are not where we plan to camp but more of a general idea of travel from Whitney. Mt. Whitney > Junction Meadow > Rattlesnake Creek > Franklin Pass > Mineral King.

Has anyone hiked out this way from Whitney?

Many Thanks - Andy

[RoguePhotonic]

I've hiked all of those trails and there is nothing wrong with what you have planned. It's what I would consider a start to seeing the Mineral King area since there is allot more there!

There should be plenty of Raspberries for you around where you cross Chagoopa Creek in the Kern Canyon.

If you want to detour slightly Forester Lake before Franklin Pass is a nice swim. I have found the water to be very nice both at the start of June and in late September so around that time it should be nice.

Better to get started early on that Rattlesnake creek climb as you will be low and into the heat.

[BigMan]

I haven't done what you're proposing, but last year I did do a 9-day loop out of MK with a side trip to Nine Lakes Basin (Timber Gap --> Black Rock Pass --> Little Five Lakes --> Nine Lakes Basin --> Precipice Lake --> Little Five Lakes --> Big Five Lakes --> Sawtooth Pass).

I haven't done the entire HST, but given what I've read about it, and what I've seen of it, and what I've seen of MK, I wouldn't bother with CM. No need to spend the time and fuel caravaning - I'd head out of MK and do a loop or out/back.

You'd have more time to spend at MK, the Great Western Divide and the best of the HST.

[yogihiker617]

Thanks guys! Really appreciate the feedback

I'll be sure to provide a trip report with pics after our hike.