Six Day Loop, Mineral King, Sequoia National Park

[lambertiana]

Twelve years ago I went off trail to a lake high in Sequoia National Park that sees people very rarely. The main reason is that although it is only a couple miles off the established trails, about half of that distance is a massive boulder field that keeps most people away. My brother saw my pictures of that trip and wanted to go there, we I obliged him this last week. With us were a friend from Visalia, my brother's son-in-law, and another friend from Tennessee (who is originally from Ukraine).

For the first day we started at Mineral King and went over Timber Gap. Here is looking back toward Mineral King as we got near the top of Timber Gap:

After cresting Timber Gap we dropped down this slope to meet Cliff Creek:

Then we went up that drainage to camp at Pinto Lake

View of our next day's obstacle - Black Rock Pass, 2900' above us, the dark part of the high ridge a little left of center

 

[lambertiana]

Day two we went up the endless switchbacks to go over Black Rock Pass.

Nice view south toward Sawtooth Peak from near the top:

View northeast from the pass toward the Kaweah ridgeline. Although not as high as the sierra crest, it is still impressive and is the highest point visible from where I live.

Evening view from our stopping point that day, looking across one of the Little Five Lakes toward the Kaweahs.

 

[lambertiana]

Day three the fun began. First we went over the next drainage, passing the lowest of the Big Five Lakes on the way

Then over the ridge toward Lost Canyon. The Kaweahs dominate the views in that area

From the bottom of Lost Canyon we headed cross country. It wasn't long before it turned into boulder hopping (see the two people in the center for scale)

Finally we were rewarded. We spent two nights at this lake (10,820'). Both times I have been there I saw zero trace of human presence. Not even a single footprint.

From the outlet of the lake we could see the Whitney group. Mt Whitney is on the left end of the ridge; the highest point in the lower 48, it is 14,508' (contrary to what almost all maps show, 14,494', and some that show 14,505'). In the foreground, in order of distance from the lake, are Big Arroyo, Chagoopa Plateau, and the Kern River Canyon. There is a lake on Chagoopa Plateau near the right edge of the picture, Moraine Lake, that formed when the glacier in Big Arroyo, 1300' deep at that point, pushed over the rim at the bend of the canyon and created a moraine.

 

[lambertiana]

Day five we had to head back out. We took a different route than we did coming in but still paid the price of endless boulder fields.

We finally got back to Lost Canyon and started heading up.

When we reached Columbine Lake, where we could look across to Black Rock Pass, which we had crossed a few days earlier (dark part of the ridge on the right)

Columbine Lake with Sawtooth Peak in the background

Our original plan was to stop at Columbine Lake for the night, and summit Sawtooth Peak the next day, but someone in our group had experienced some elevation-related issues the previous night so we opted to go over Sawtooth Pass and stop at Monarch Lake that night.
Sawtooth Peak from the pass

Camp at Monarch Lake

Monarch Lake

 

[lambertiana]

Final day was all downhill back to Mineral King. Some views along the way:

Just below Monarch Lake the trail goes through some hornfels. For those not familiar, hornfels is a metamorphic rock that can be very interesting. It rings and chimes as you walk on it; people make musical chimes out of it. It sounds really cool when walking on hornfels.

Almost at the bottom, looking back up toward Sawtooth Peak. The pass is on the left end of the ridge.

And I know when I am in the right place when I see these:

We saw a lot of beautiful scenery. It was a lot harder than I had hoped; time has a way of creeping up on you and this type of trip is a lot harder than it was 40 years ago. The boulder fields especially really take a lot out of you. I lost five pounds in six days.

 

[Don M]

I only lost 3 lbs. And yes, it was more physically demanding than I expected. Not just the boulders, but going up all those passes in the sun. It was noticeably warmer than I thought it would be.

 

[315]

What a gorgeous trip!