R01 TR: Mineral King July 26 - Aug 1 2020

[Nozmo King]

A good friend wanted to take his teenage boys to Mineral King, our favorite backpacking destination. His 18-year old also brought a buddy, so there were five of us on this journey, We live in Northern Cal, so having the public campgrounds closed was a bit of a drawback. However, we were able to reserve a campsite @ Silver City for Saturday night.

On Sunday, we set off on our hike & went to Franklin Lakes for our first night. We had a great campsite & the boys caught lots of smallish trout. I liked the environs better than Monarch Lakes, where I had camped years before. The only drawback was that some folks were flying a drone around the lake. They're noisy & sound like a huge swarm of bees.

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Monday took us on a rather long journey over Franklin Pass & to the Kern River. The hike up Franklin Pass on fresh legs wasn't bad & the view was excellent.

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It was a long hike from the top of Franklin Pass to the Kern. Lots of sun exposure but Rattlesnake Canyon is quite beautiful. It's always uplifting when Kern Canyon comes in sight.

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We had a great campsite near the base of Rattlesnake. The views upriver towards Red Spur are awesome.

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The trout fishing was exceptionally good. We caught dozens of trout, many of good size, on both flies & spinners.

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Also in abundance were rattlesnakes. I don't know why we saw so many on this trip (at least 10, both in Kern Canyon & Big Arroyo). There does seem to be a population explosion of some kind of burrowing rodent that may be contributing to the number of rattlers. Especially in the lower end of Big Arroyo, the burrows are everywhere. Fortunately, rattlesnakes aren't aggressive but do bring about a good amount of caution while hiking over the rocky banks of the Kern or walking thru the woods near its banks (all the snakes we saw were near a water source.)

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We day hiked to the ever-popular Kern Hot Springs. As usual, a hot bath while backpacking is incredibly pleasurable. On the day hike, we had a good view of Chagoopa Falls.

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Upper Funston Meadows was lush & green.

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On Thursday, we started our hike early out of Kern Canyon. The sun exposure on the switchbacks is surprisingly intense in the AM but the views of the Canyon are excellent.

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We spent Thursday night in Big Arroyo. Although not the most scenic of locations, it provides a wonderful sense of solitude. On Friday, we headed for Lost Canyon. Sections of Big Arroyo are quite lush with ferns.

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We had our campsite in upper Lost Canyon by early Friday afternoon. Although in some senses it might be overused, the scenery is incredible & it's one of my favorite campsites.

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The NPS grazes horses & mules in Lost Canyon & they paid a visit to our campsite & our neighbors who were camping near us, too.

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We hiked out over Sawtooth Pass on Saturday. I don't know whether I hate the hike down the west side of Sawtooth more than I hate the hike up the west side. But, once you get to Monarch, it's a very pleasant hike to the parking lot, which was packed. This is my 11th time backpacking in Mineral King & I've never wrapped my car/truck in a tarp to keep the marmots away. Maybe it's an early season problem?

We had a great trip & the lads enjoyed the journey. The weather was just about perfect, mosquitoes were few, & the water in the lakes, the Kern, & Big Arroyo Creek was surprisingly comfortable for swims. All in all, an excellent journey.

[SweetSierra]

Beautiful photos. Thanks for your trip report. Last year I (and a group) did a loop over Timber Gap, Black Rock Pass, Nine-Lake Basin, Lost Canyon, and out Sawtooth. It was late July, and we didn't wrap our cars. A ranger told me that marmot problems with car hoses occur in early season and isn't an issue by mid-July or so.
I'd rather go down Sawtooth, though there's a slippery sandy section over smooth rock just before the trail gently descends to Monarch Lakes. I found it easier to slide down (once I fell down) in that section. Mineral King is one of my favorite places. I've never been to Franklin Lakes, but plan to do a trip there. I like your route.

[windknot]

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a great trip. That's a really nice rainbow too.