Climbing Florence Peak, Sequoia NP

[lambertiana]

Yesterday I went on an overnight trip out of Mineral King in Sequoia NP that served two purposes. One is that this will be my son's last trip with me for a while, since he will be leaving in a few weeks to serve a two year mission in the Philippines. The second is that another friend of mine went with me to Franklin Lake last year, and we climbed Rainbow Mountain (it was the only peak above Franklin Lake that I had not done yet) and he wanted to return to do Florence Peak.

Since I already put up a bunch of pictures of Franklin Lake after I did an overnight there two weeks ago with some other friends, I won't duplicate those same scenes here. Well, one shot of Franklin Lake from this trip:

Our goal was Florence Peak (12,438'), the large granite peak at the end of the lake. Only my friend and I went up, my son and another friend stayed at the lake and waited for us. When we got to Franklin Pass, we could see the east side of Florence Peak with the boulder field that we would ascend, with some boulders in the foreground for texture:

In this view you can see Florence Peak with the boulder field on the left, it is a class 2 ascent with a couple spots of class 3

As we got closer, this is what it looked like from below

Here are some views on the way up the boulder field

 

[lambertiana]

We made good time and got to the summit fairly early this morning

From the summit, looking north toward the Kaweahs

Looking east toward the Whitney group

It was a bit hazy because of some forest fires, but otherwise conditions were really nice. The valley was really hot, but I needed a jacket to stay warm up there. Here is my son on the way down

And one last shot, of the waterfall on Franklin Creek

 

[raylaconico]

That's amazing John! Too bad I couldn't go up with you guys. Maybe another time.

 

[lambertiana]

Yeah, Ray, you could have been on top of Florence Peak with us. Dan was asking about you...he wants to do Sawtooth next, but it probably won't happen until next year.

 

[OwenM]

Always love your great pics:thumbup:

I'm always jealous of the places you live in proximity to, too!

 

[C Bryant]

Nice John. Great pics as always.

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

Great pics !!! I love it......

I lived in So Cal my whole life up til 5 yrs ago and although decent weather it doesn't even come close to your neck of the woods.. Absolutely love that part of the country.. just awesome ....

Good luck on your son's mission trip, speaking of the Philippines I seen this on Yahoo yesterday..

http://news.yahoo.com/giant-crocodile-captured-alive-philippines-134625838.html

 

[Mistwalker]

Beautiful photos, such an alien (to me) landscape. Looks like a cool place to explore.