TR: Mineral King Loop
Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:04 pm
After much consulting with the forum community here, four of us headed out from the Bay Area in mid-August to do a loop starting from Mineral King in SEKI. The drive took about 6 hours and the final part, up a long, winding-road, caused our aged car to need a breather midway. We overnighted at the campground just a mile or two short of the trailhead before picking up our rented bear canisters and permit from the ranger station.
Day 1: The first day heading toward Franklin Lake was in many ways the least satisfying day. Much of the trail is along a valley that looks a little too much like something from “The Sound of Music.”
After gently climbing a few thousand feet, however, and more interesting mountains appeared with some spectacular colors. Franklin Lake itself is a formed by a dam, which diminished my enjoyment of it, but was otherwise quite pretty. We camped out on the bench elevated along the lake’s shore. This was the only campground we shared with others. There was a group of fishermen, and then, toward dusk, what appeared to be a (Christian?) youth group appeared and spread out over the rocks for some introspection. Since this was our first full day at this altitude, half of us felt sickish from the climb, but were significantly restored by a mid-afternoon nap. The alpineglow that evening was spectacular.
Day 2: After a slow start to the morning, we headed out over Franklin Pass. The trail up is well-maintained and looks infinitely preferable to climbing Sawtooth. The descent struck me as really very pretty, first crossing a rather wide basin of sand and shale (again on good trail) before descending into a nice meadow. A few hours march brought out to Forester Lake, and then up one final hill, before getting to Little Claire, where we ate a rather late lunch. We had originally hoped to leave our packs there and go off-trail to Amphitheater Lake, but the combination of altitude sickness and our late start made us reluctantly conclude that would be a bad idea. Luckily Little Claire is a pretty if small lake with wonderful camping spots, so it made for a good place to pass a lazy afternoon. At this point, unfortunately, I started suffering from really bad acid reflux. (Something to do with my hipbelt. Does anyone have any tips?) Also, we discovered a few days later that one of us had left his prescription glasses on a fallen tree in the area. If anyone comes across them, we’d be eternally grateful if you’d pack them out. (Slim chance, I know.)
Day 3: Most of the hike on this day was routine: lots of pretty meadows, a few minor river crossings and some elevation gain. We came across a nice tarn that our hiking book (by White) assured us was nice for swimming. And it was, especially near the shore, where it decently warm. After a nice relaxing hour around the tarn, we continued to the first of the Big Five Lakes. This was perhaps the most spectacular lake of our trip. It is large and was gloriously dazzling blue. We found a campsite on a rock shelf slight above the second lake, and then fought or way through the mosquitoes to see the remaining three lakes, of which the fifth struck me as best.
Day 4: A short climb took us to the Little Five Lakes. This area struck me as the most consistently beautiful of the trip.
We left our packs at the trail junction and walked, on maverick’s excellent, suggestion, to lake 10410. The off-trail portion was very easy and very pretty. The Nine Lake Basin area beckoned temptingly in the distance.
After returning from lake 10410, we headed up Blackrock Pass, which wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked from the lakes. The pass provided us an excellent view of our next day’s journey. We descended the pass and cut towards Spring Lake. Perhaps there is use trail that goes to Spring Lake farther down the valley. Spring Lake was a spectacular camp site, flanked on several sides by mountains. While making dinner at dusk, some surprisingly aggressive deer kept attempting to partake.
Day 5: The morning was spent climbing off-trail from Spring to Cyclamen and then unto Columbine. I really enjoyed Cyclamen, as it is framed by a beautiful cliff. From the top of Sawtooth, we had a great time descended down the scree, and felt sorry for the several people camped at Monarch Lake who asked us nervous questions about it. From there we high tailed it down to the car.
Day 1: The first day heading toward Franklin Lake was in many ways the least satisfying day. Much of the trail is along a valley that looks a little too much like something from “The Sound of Music.”
After gently climbing a few thousand feet, however, and more interesting mountains appeared with some spectacular colors. Franklin Lake itself is a formed by a dam, which diminished my enjoyment of it, but was otherwise quite pretty. We camped out on the bench elevated along the lake’s shore. This was the only campground we shared with others. There was a group of fishermen, and then, toward dusk, what appeared to be a (Christian?) youth group appeared and spread out over the rocks for some introspection. Since this was our first full day at this altitude, half of us felt sickish from the climb, but were significantly restored by a mid-afternoon nap. The alpineglow that evening was spectacular.
Day 2: After a slow start to the morning, we headed out over Franklin Pass. The trail up is well-maintained and looks infinitely preferable to climbing Sawtooth. The descent struck me as really very pretty, first crossing a rather wide basin of sand and shale (again on good trail) before descending into a nice meadow. A few hours march brought out to Forester Lake, and then up one final hill, before getting to Little Claire, where we ate a rather late lunch. We had originally hoped to leave our packs there and go off-trail to Amphitheater Lake, but the combination of altitude sickness and our late start made us reluctantly conclude that would be a bad idea. Luckily Little Claire is a pretty if small lake with wonderful camping spots, so it made for a good place to pass a lazy afternoon. At this point, unfortunately, I started suffering from really bad acid reflux. (Something to do with my hipbelt. Does anyone have any tips?) Also, we discovered a few days later that one of us had left his prescription glasses on a fallen tree in the area. If anyone comes across them, we’d be eternally grateful if you’d pack them out. (Slim chance, I know.)
Day 3: Most of the hike on this day was routine: lots of pretty meadows, a few minor river crossings and some elevation gain. We came across a nice tarn that our hiking book (by White) assured us was nice for swimming. And it was, especially near the shore, where it decently warm. After a nice relaxing hour around the tarn, we continued to the first of the Big Five Lakes. This was perhaps the most spectacular lake of our trip. It is large and was gloriously dazzling blue. We found a campsite on a rock shelf slight above the second lake, and then fought or way through the mosquitoes to see the remaining three lakes, of which the fifth struck me as best.
Day 4: A short climb took us to the Little Five Lakes. This area struck me as the most consistently beautiful of the trip.
We left our packs at the trail junction and walked, on maverick’s excellent, suggestion, to lake 10410. The off-trail portion was very easy and very pretty. The Nine Lake Basin area beckoned temptingly in the distance.
After returning from lake 10410, we headed up Blackrock Pass, which wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked from the lakes. The pass provided us an excellent view of our next day’s journey. We descended the pass and cut towards Spring Lake. Perhaps there is use trail that goes to Spring Lake farther down the valley. Spring Lake was a spectacular camp site, flanked on several sides by mountains. While making dinner at dusk, some surprisingly aggressive deer kept attempting to partake.
Day 5: The morning was spent climbing off-trail from Spring to Cyclamen and then unto Columbine. I really enjoyed Cyclamen, as it is framed by a beautiful cliff. From the top of Sawtooth, we had a great time descended down the scree, and felt sorry for the several people camped at Monarch Lake who asked us nervous questions about it. From there we high tailed it down to the car.
