Blitz Trip Today/Tomorrow: Mineral King Area or Mt. Langley?

[lambertiana]

It sounds like you have learned the hard way that use trails and footprints are not always the right way to go. I have done Sawtooth seven or eight times, and if you just follow the footprints you will discover that too many people have gone the wrong way and had similar experiences (I made that mistake once, and ended up in a terrifying situation that I still have not told my wife about, and I have a friend who ended up losing his footing and sliding down on his stomach and managing to stop just inches above a face that would have been a certain fatal fall). The natural inclination is to trend downward, but that just leads to hairy situations. You have to stay high the whole way to Sawtooth Pass. And going down the south ridge you have to choose the right place to drop down or you end up in cliff bands, as you found out. It looks like you dropped too soon, you need to aim for the patch of green visible on the far right edge in you picture and then head down when you are almost there.

Descending the sand/gravel slope from Sawtooth Pass can be fun, I have done it in just over ten minutes. But careful route selection is necessary if you take it that fast, one mistake has serious consequences.

My favorite way to do Sawtooth is to go up Sawtooth Pass (staying to the south of the actual trail, on the edge of the rocks where footing is better) and descending the south ridge to upper Monarch Lake.

[seanr]

Good tips from lambertiana!

Franklin411, your attitude about this seems to indicate you may have caught the peakbagging bug, but that at the same time you are disciplined enough to skip the actual summit when conditions call for it.   I had a similar debacle on Sawtooth, gaining more experience in my first High Sierra hike than I generally have accrued in entire seasons thereafter.  I experienced my first midday thunderstorms, which drove me foolishly straight downward from the peak toward Upper Monarch Lake. I slid and awkwardly climbed down scree and cliff bands, at one point losing my wedding ring, but then finding it after a brief search while clinging to the mountainside in near vertical feeling sandy scree atop steeply slanted rock.  Yes, there are lots of use trails there, and another guy actually had a similar experience to me around the same time that same day.  We both knew not to expect any help. I became more disciplined and experienced regarding thunderstorms, researching routes, reading terrain, and both carrying and effectively interpreting a good map.  With this experience under your belt, I bet you'll find Sawtooth easy if you go back some other year in good weather, or you will find some other peak to be a more enjoyable alternative.  My second attempt went smoothly and I've never felt as much in danger since.