High Sierra Topix

Its that time of year again to go on the annual Father Son hike with my Dad soon. We are doing the classic Mineral King Loop of Franklin Pass, Big Five Lakes and exiting Sawtooth Pass. Never being able to trust the NPS Trail Condition Page... Wondering does anybody have trail conditions of the Passes? Are they icy to be specific? Any news would help thanks Folks.

P.

Hi Flap

Welcome to HST!
No exactly the area your asking about, but will give you an idea on what's out there.

7/11 TR from Summitpost: "There is snow on the ground all the way from Glacier Pass
to the Spring Lake; basically no snow up to Black Rock Pass, then again all snow all the
way to Big Arroyo crossing. On the mountain itself there is nothing up to about 11k
then everything is covered. It helped a lot on the climb: I just put crampons on and
flew up to the beginning of the ramp from one chute to another. Inside the main chute
there is some snow too, but it can be avoided. Trail to Big Arroyo crossing though is
**** to find, because it's all covered."

I found this on the Mineral King blog:

Conditions in Mineral King as of July 12 per the ranger there: He said the snow level is still at 9500' and recommends 'snow equipment' (I'm assuming crampons and/or ice axes) to go over Farewell. He also said the creeks are difficult and dangerous to cross, but that the best time to cross would be early in the morning.

I assume the other high passes would be similar. I was thinking about making my first trip up there this weekend, but maybe I'll wait another week for the snow to melt out at most of the lakes.

Thanks, We dont leave for 10 days or so. Please keep the reports coming. Ever bit helps.

Do the infamous marmots still eat rubber engine parts of vehicles parked at the trailhead there?

Yes! The Marmots are still very active in the Spring time up there. Thanks for the info. We leave tomorrow. I will post a condition report when I get back.

Hi Flap,
You might check with the MK rangers, because last time I was there they recommended bringing protection (portable fencing) to protect your vehicle from the marmots (yes, they will eat various rubber/plastic bits). They may trigger a worse outcome than the snow or Lion fire smoke.
cg

Trip Report:

Due to the Lion Fire, we changed our trip slightly to go over Timber Gap - Black Rock Pass - Little Five Lakes - Sawtooth Pass. Timber was completely free of snow with a great display of wildflowers. Cliff Creek at the base of the back side of Timber gap was the "worst" if you could call it that stream crossing. Water level near Knee high with no current to speak of. The west slope of Black rock is 100% snow free while the east face is 70% snow to the little five lakes and requires some route finding. Once at the little five lakes everything is snow free (with plenty of bugs already) until the slopes of Sawtooth. Even @ Sawtooth you can avoid the snow if you try except for a couple of 100 yard stretches. Maybe two weeks and the entire trail will be snow free. The trip was excellent, we caught some fish, great views.

Thanks for all the info

Flap,
So, what was the scoop on the MK marmots? Did you take any precautions? Did the rangers recommend anything? Or, is this problem subsiding? Anyway, sounds like you got lucky with the smoke/snow!
cg

We are going over Timber Gap and Black Rock in a few days and your report is appreciated a lot! Glad you had a great trip.