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DoyleWDonehoo wrote:The car eating marmots of Mineral King are notoriously famous. . . . It is common to see parked cars at the Mineral King TH with chicken-wire around them.
I popped my hood (marmots don't like light) using a boulder to let light in, and used mothballs on the inside of the truck and a little ammonia on a tissue in a baggie at the front and back. My 4Runner wasn't touched. A friend that I ran into up there (same trip) did the wrap job on his 4Runner, and the marmots chewed thru some electrical wires ($500 repair).
On the bright side, your trip was probably more enjoyable than sitting at the office!
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison
I've been to Mineral King 15 - 20 times and never had a problem with my car. But the stories are legendary. My favorite is of some guy who surrounded his car with rat poison bait, and came back to discover a ring of dead marmots around his truck (and, needless to say, a sizeable ticket from the ranger).
Mineral Peak itself holds bitter memories, as I hiked it a few days after my best friend died (at the age of 34).
Hey Snowy, thanks for the tip on how to Marmotize my car. Next time I am going to try your technique.
I have been to MK 5 or 6 times and didn't have problems before. There used to be a woman in the cabin near the trailhead that would scare the Marmots away from the cars. I had hoped for more hikers that day thinking the odds of a Marmot attack on my car would be reduced if more cars were present (so much for that logic).
Giantbrookie - that's quite something to have been on Sawtooth peak at the age of ten. I just got up there last year at the ripe age of 47.
And SSSdave, if you change your mind I bet there will still be ample snow for another week or two. I've seen and talked with several BC skiers last year. Two of them, a son and his Dad, hoofed it to the top of Empire mountain. I was envious to watch them zoom by and get to the bottom in short order.
Hey Buck - thanks for the kind words. I am still on the fence about buying a 30D. The snapshooter I used didn't like the fact everything was white - it turned the few green objects black?
Welll Doyle, I should know better but I tempted fate and lost.
Sorry to learn of your loss quentinc. I have found certain healing properties that only the mountains can provide.
Anyway, I now have that feeling of a necessary "do-over" - even if I have to scramble up the rubble pile from Crystal Lake this summer. I really enjoyed the day, especially walking along the snow lined knife edge ridge top. That in itself created some worthy memories.
Shawn - thanks for the pictures and report - very helpful and the pictures are beautiful. I just didn't think there would be that much snow so far south in the Sierra.
