Scout shakedown to Franklin Lake

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lambertiana

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We are getting some scouts ready for a 50-mile backpacking trip from Onion Valley to Mt Whitney, and we needed to get some of them on a challenging hike at elevation to see if they are up to the task. Naturally, we chose to go out of Mineral King in Sequoia NP, since that is the fasted route to elevation on the west side of the Sierras.

Not long after starting, we got to the first crossing of Franklin Creek, which drains from Franklin Lake:
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Then we were treated to views of the south end of Mineral King Valley:
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Followed by the second crossing of Franklin Creek:
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After which we could see the peaks above Franklin Lake, which was our goal:
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That evening it was peaceful and cool (chilly, actually, which is a big change from the triple digits we have been having here in town). Here is Franklin Lake from the shore:
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And from our camp, which was on a shelf above the lake (there's not a lot of flat ground around Franklin Lake)
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This morning we had a lazy start to the day, and headed back down. Here is the group on the way out:
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It was a successful trip for all but one, who probably will not be able to go on the 50-miler.
 
I have been to that lake before on a backtracking trip. I remember one of the guys got altitude sickness so we just took a nap on the rocks while we waited for him to get up to where we were. We ended up going up and past the lake and a couple miles down the backside to another lake where we camped. It was a very long day.
 
Nice pics. It looks like there's a lot more water in the streams than last year. I really liked Franklin Lake. Did you climb any of those peaks again?
 
Sorry to hear one of your troop may not be able to go on the 50, but atleast they got to enjoy this hike...

Thanks for sharing..:thumbup:
 
Great pic's. I bet that was a blast.

I'm curious... how high up are those stream crossings? And how cold is the water? Did you guys just go on through the water & change socks/dry out later? Or did you bring tevas or something to do the crossing?

I haven't ever had any hikes at elevation with that big of a stream to cross. Looks like a nice break from the heat!
 
I didn't do any of the peaks on this trip, no one else was interested in going with me and I didn't think they wanted to wait around for me to do it. Since I have been on top of all the peaks around that lake before, it wasn't a big deal for me. I hope to go back to Franklin Lake at the end of the summer to take a few friends up Florence Peak (the one with the big face behind the lake) who have not been up it before.

The streams are running higher right now. The higher than average snowpack and the late melt because of the cool spring has extended the high water later into the summer. The water is VERY cold right now, it is fresh snowmelt. Franklin Lake has been ice free for only a week or two at most (three weeks ago I went to a nearby lake that is 1100' lower, and it still had 50% ice cover). And it really felt good to cool off when we crossed Franklin Creek, it was in the middle of the afternoon and it had been a rather warm ascent.

I bring a pair of Tevas for crossings like that. The cold water makes the rocks rather painful on my feet. After crossing, we sit for a few minutes waiting for our feet to dry before putting our socks and boots back on. That crossing of Franklin Creek is actually a pretty small one compared to a lot of crossings I have done in the sierras.

The lowest crossing (the first crossing of Franklin Creek) is a little over 8000'. The lake is officially at 10,330'. On the 50-miler next week, the lowest point on the trip will be when we exit at Whitney Portal at 8360', and the highest point will be the summit of Whitney, 14,508'. That is a lot of elevation for us, since we live at 300'. The scout who will not be going has serious altitude sickness problems (experienced on other trips, too).
 
And while we are on the subject of stream crossings, the difficulty is highly variable, depending on time of year and the level of the snowpack the previous winter. Here are two comparison pictures taken at exactly the same spot. The first was taken in August of a very dry year (about 50% of normal snowpack the previous winter), and the second was taken in May of a wet year during the big spring runoff (about 200% of normal snowpack).
KingsCanyon2007601.jpg


MistFalls06059.jpg


The waterfalls in Yosemite are the same - thundering in May/June, sometimes completely disappearing in September/October.
 
lambertiana said:
And while we are on the subject of stream crossings, the difficulty is highly variable, depending on time of year and the level of the snowpack the previous winter. Here are two comparison pictures taken at exactly the same spot. The first was taken in August of a very dry year (about 50% of normal snowpack the previous winter), and the second was taken in May of a wet year during the big spring runoff (about 200% of normal snowpack).
KingsCanyon2007601.jpg


MistFalls06059.jpg


The waterfalls in Yosemite are the same - thundering in May/June, sometimes completely disappearing in September/October.
Click to expand...

whoa! That's some serious water there. Thanks for the response. :thumbup: I bet that new snowmelt was a little chilly on the toes!

On a related note, I'm starting to do some research in urban streams where the water level regularly goes up 6 feet in just an hour and a half or so. This is unlikely to happen high up in the watershed like you guys were, but I'd hate to cross the creek in the top pic and come back after a nice little day hike on the wrong side of the bottom pic!
 
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