Suggestions for a 3-5 nighter out of SEKI/Mineral King

[walterfredo]

Looking for some feedback on a 3-5 nighter next week out of kings canyon, sequoia, mineral king or these general areas. Considering Florence lake to evolution valley (thanks almostthere for your input on my other thread) but the hot trail and excessive skeets has us questioning. We are not expert stream crossers and don't have snow gear, but can definitely handle stream crossings that aren't too crazy. Any input would be great, I'll review any and all suggestions. Thank you!

[kpeter]

I'm going out of Mineral King on August 1, planning to do a six day loop Franklin Pass--Big Five--Little Five--Black Rock--Timber Gap--Mineral King. I will be calling rangers to check on conditions of passes and stream crossings. As recently as a week or so ago some people were turning back at Franklin pass due to the heavy snow on the other side.

A good four or five nighter would be Lake Reflection from Road's End, providing you can cross Bubbs Creek. Take two days going in, have a couple of days for dayhiking from Lake Reflection, and a day out. Dayhikes could include exploring the basin up to Harrison Pass, hiking up to Longley Pass, or summiting Brewer. But crossing Bubbs Creek can be difficult in a normal year...not sure what shape it is in just now.

Wherever you go, be sure to call ahead and get accurate and up to date information about conditions.

[maverick]

KP wrote:

A good four or five nighter would be Lake Reflection from Road's End, providing you can cross Bubbs Creek.

Last report on that crossing by SEKI:

7/7 - Charlotte creek crossing should be crossed at Bubbs only in the morning, water is running very high/swift in the afternoon. The water crossings in between Junction Meadow and East Lake are currently impassable.

Call to get a recent update if you consider East/Reflection Lake.

[walterfredo]

Thanks Kpeter. We're considering MK, usually less crowded. That should be a good hike, we essentially did the same thing in reverse order three years ago. Consider a night at Forester Lake too, possibly my favorite spot to camp in the general area.

I'll look into the reflection lake suggestion. We did Rae Lakes Loop 3 years ago so somewhat familiar with the area.

[AlmostThere]

MK is crowded... the park notes all campgrounds are full, including that one. Lots of people hitting the parks right now.

mosquitoes will be everywhere- don't let that sway you from any destination, they will all have plenty of bugs. This is the spring we would have had in May/June.

[balzaccom]

Just back from MK. Cold Spring campground was not full in the late afternoon of either July 19 or 24. We originally wanted to hike Franklin Pass to Big 5 Lakes, returning through Black Rock and Timber Gap, but both Franklin and Black Rock were "ice Axe and crampons suggested.". That's not in our toolkit.

So we hiked MK to Hocketts Meadow, then down into the Little Kern, and back via Farewell Gap. Great trip, but the hike down into the Little Kern from Blossom Lake was the worst maintained trail we've seen in many years... we'll post a TR later today. And Farewell Gap still required some scrambling around the edges because of the snow. Not recommended for novices...

[cgundersen]

walter,
There have been a few posts from folks who have headed up toward/over Kaweah gap this year, and the creek crossings appear to have become reasonable. Besides Hamilton Lake and the Big Arroyo, you could aim for Tamarack Lake or even Lonely Lake to get off the beaten path a bit.
cameron