What's wrong with my Mineral King 50ish-mile itinerary?

[mapster]

My wife and I are planning a 5-day backpacking loop in Mineral King, going over Timber Gap, Kaweah Gap, and Franklin Pass, and although we've searched this site and others, we can't find any trip reports about this particular route. So we're wondering if there's a good reason why no one chooses it. From what we've gleaned from HST, Sawtooth Pass is one we want to avoid, and besides, Franklin Pass gives us the mileage we want. Our knees are in their late 50s, so we prefer a hard uphill to a steep downhill. We chose this clockwise direction in order to acclimate ourselves better, as we've had altitude insomnia at times in the past. HST has been so helpful for planning our past hikes in the Sierra, and we look forward to all the wisdom y'all can throw our way. Thanks in advance!

Here's our planned itinerary:

Day 1: From Mineral King, via Timber Pass to Kaweah River
Day 2: Kaweah River to Hamilton Lakes
Day 3: Hamilton Lakes via Kaweah Gap to Big Five Lakes
Day 4: Big Five Lakes via Franklin Pass to Forester Lake (or Franklin Lakes)
Day 5: Forester Lake back to Mineral King via Franklin Pass

We don't mind hard work if the scenic payoff is amazing. The questions I have:

1. Are there more scenic places to camp along our route than what we've chosen?
2. Is there a 50-mile route that is aesthetically better?
3. Why don't more people hike this route?

I'll answer some questions about ourselves:

What level of backpacking experience do you have?
Level 3- Numerous backpacking trips, some x-country travel


What terrain are you comfortable with?
- Class 2 terrain/pass/x-country
- River crossings
- Snow travel

What is your main interest?
- Lakes
- Forests
- Big Mountain scenery
- Photography

How many days/nights is your trip, not including travel to trailhead? Five days and 4 nights.

How many miles did you want to do a day, any layovers? We would like to keep it under 15, with 10 being optimal.

Have you hiked at elevation before? Any prior issues with Altitude Sickness? We have hiked at elevation, in the Sierra (Rae Lakes Loop last year) and with 14ers in Colorado; our only problem so far has been insomnia while acclimating.

Do you have a route logistics preference: loop, out and back, point to point (which may require 2 vehicles or hitchhiking)? We prefer a loop, but are willing to do out and back.

Is there a particular area in the Sierra that your most interested in (Yosemite, SEKI western sierra start or eastern start ect.)? SEKI

Have you hiked in the Sierra Nevada before, if yes, where? Please list a few of your more difficult hikes, so we can then recommend routes based on your experience level. We've been on parts of the High Sierra Trail, Panorama Trail in Yosemite, Horseshoe Meadows/New Army Pass area, and Rae Lakes Loop counterclockwise

Will you be hiking with a dog? No

Thanks,
Kevin and Susan

[AlmostThere]

When will you be planning to do it?

You may want to run the numbers on the elevation gains/losses again. Some of those days are longer than I would want them to be when combined with the climbs/drops. My knees are younger than yours, slightly, and still doing fine, but they would not be....

[Wandering Daisy]

AT- Do you think there ever will be a shuttle bus (even if you had to pay for it) from Lodegepole to Mineral King?

Crescent Meadow to Mineral King would be SUCH a great trip, without having to drop to the Keweah River.

[zacjust32]

I haven't done this loop but have hiked the general area, including Kaweah River --> Hamilton and out of MK. I don't understand starting @ MK, climbing a pass, and then dropping all the way back down to Bearpaw, just to hike back up. I wasn't that impressed by Bearpaw, although Valhalla was kinda impressive, but I think the 5 lakes would be better (never been but on the list).

[AlmostThere]

The only appeal I think would be Redwood Meadow -- Timber Gap is wholly unremarkable as passes go. Coming back around via Franklin Pass is understandable.

If you wanted to pack scenery into a loop from beginning to end, start at Crescent Meadow or Wolverton and go out over Kaweah Gap, go over Colby and down Cloud, come back up Deadman, and return via the HST to Crescent Meadow.

But when is key - too soon and this is impossible. I'd say August tho skeeters may still be about. September is optimal.

I think a shuttle to Mineral King will be tough for the park to justify even if it would unsnarl the parking that gets worse every year -- they cram cars in all the pullouts in late summer. And who knows really how the road looks, this year when nearly every road has been washed away or fallen in? They're still unblocking roads into Yosemite and those are main arteries. We hiked in to the trailhead of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah recently and that road is crumbling and there's quite a number of avalanches blocking it. It'll need some repairs before they open the Buckeye Flat campground.

[mapster]

When will you be planning to do it?

We'll be going in September.

You may want to run the numbers on the elevation gains/losses again. Some of those days are longer than I would want them to be when combined with the climbs/drops. My knees are younger than yours, slightly, and still doing fine, but they would not be....

Thanks for the reminder about the combination of high miles combined with climbs/drops. We'll probably add another day if we continue with this plan.

[mapster]

I haven't done this loop but have hiked the general area, including Kaweah River --> Hamilton and out of MK. I don't understand starting @ MK, climbing a pass, and then dropping all the way back down to Bearpaw, just to hike back up. I wasn't that impressed by Bearpaw, although Valhalla was kinda impressive, but I think the 5 lakes would be better (never been but on the list).

Yeah, maybe we should start somewhere else. We were thinking we didn't want to miss Precipice Lake. So would you do an out and back to 5 lakes from Crescent Meadow?

[mapster]

Crescent Meadow to Mineral King would be SUCH a great trip, without having to drop to the Keweah River.

Indeed!

[zacjust32]

Precipice is pretty cool, as it Kaweah Gap, and you can definitely include it from Mineral King in under 50 miles. Just a little dinking around on CalTopo: https://caltopo.com/m/Q1QJ. I would suggest doing it counter clockwise so you go down Sawtooth/Glacier Pass instead of up like you mentioned.

[maverick]

Your proposed route is almost 56 miles, this includes a side visit to Big Five Lakes.
Timber Gap to Pinto Lake can be very pretty, with lots of wildflowers and pretty little streams, but this will not be the case by Sept. IMO, the Redwood Meadow is nice, Bearpaw is not a favorite of mine, Hamilton Lakes-Precipice Lake-Kaweah Gap are the highlights of this section of the HST, Little Five Lakes is much more scenic than Big Five Lakes, especially the ones near Lake 10410, not the ones around the ranger station (which are nice too), Soda Creek is nice, Little Claire is a good swimming lake. Would add an extra day so you can also visit the lakes above Little Claire Lake (Lake 10569, Amphitheater lake, and several no-named ones).