Roland Sturm: Mineral King Loop - Sequoia National Park

Top of Sawtooth Pass

My favorite trip so far this year was a 4-day hike in Sequoia National Park, starting from Mineral King over the Blackrock and Sawtooth passes into the Five Lakes Basins. One of most spectacular routes ever. I went by myself, starting July 6.

The Great Western Divide is a formidable barrier separating the justifiably famous tourist destinations of the Sequoia National Park from the much less visited (and road-less) high mountains that account for much of the area of the Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. There is no easy way to get over the Great Western Divide, every pass here is over 3500m (or >11500 feet). This trip started from the west, whereas last month's hike over Kearsarge Pass into King's Canyon started from the east. The western and eastern approaches differ systematically:

"All the passes make their steepest ascents on the east flank of the range, where the average rise is nearly a thousand feet to the mile, while on the west it is about two hundred feet. ... Approaching the range from the grey levels of Mono and Owens Valley the steep short passes are in full view between the peaks, their feet in hot sand, their heads in snow, the courses of the more direct being disclosed nearly all the way from top to bottom. But from the west side one sees nothing of the pass sought for until nearing the summit, after spending days in threading the forests on the main dividing ridges between the canyons of the rivers, most of the way even the highest peaks being hidden."

Muir, John. The Complete Works of John Muir: Travel Memoirs, Wilderness Essays, Environmental Studies & Letters (p. 25). Madison & Adams Press.

Sunset from upper Monarch Lake on my last night

Mineral King is a quiet corner in the National Park, connected to the rest of the park by trails. A windy road that is too narrow for lane markings leads there, with an easily missed turnoff before the official park entrance (coming from the south, Three Rivers). It can take 1 1/2 hours for the 40km/25m to the ranger station (and the road dead-ends shortly afterwards). For John Muir, this took "days in threading the forests".

Nicely wrapped minivan

I stopped at the ranger station to pick up my backcountry permit (only for overnight, none needed for day hikes). Rangers want to confirm that people know the rules and have appropriate equipment. Although the ranger quizzed me on bear-containers (I have a Garcia, which can hold 4 days of food) and waste disposal, his first question was whether I had a tarp for the car. Car wrapping is a custom specific to Mineral King: The local marmots chew wires and hoses in cars left overnight. This is a major concern Mineral King, but only there (nowhere else in the park) and only until August (no car chewing from August to April). I brought my own tarp, but the ranger station has spare ones if needed. Marmot-disabled cars have occurred so often at Mineral King that the National Park Service has a webpage on that. While marmots could easily chew through a tarp if they wanted, having the car wrapped from below is sufficient to discourage them (whereas open wheel wells seem to invite exploration and wire/hose tasting sessions).

Funny looking trail parking lot

The fairly recent recreation.gov website makes backcountry permit reservation fairly easy (it also is the portal for park passes, campsite reservations, shuttles, backcountry permits is a tiny part). Backcountry permits are inexpensive, this was the most expensive permit at $25, King Range/Lost Coast was $6. The website is for reservations only, getting the actual permit varies across agencies. Sequoia and Kings Canyon require in-person pickup of the permit at a ranger station, whereas I printed the King Range/Lost Coast permit (BLM) from the recreation.gov site and received the Kearsarge permit by email from the Inyo National Forest backcountry office.

At Columbine lake, afternoon of day 3
I didn't stay there but continued over
Sawtooth (peak and pass in the background)

The permitting process is not difficult to navigate and I think that minor hurdle is a necessary requirement to keep the backcountry pristine. Along the Colorado trail a few years ago (no permits were required there), I've seen lovely lakes in the tundra surrounded by human waste. Nature's processes work slowly in those climates.

I went clockwise: Mineral King - Timber Gap - Blackrock - Five Lakes - Sawtooth - Mineral King. The data from my GPS are here: Mineral King map and GPS files The parking area (middle of the week) was almost full, but compared to the well-known hiking destinations of the John Muir or High Sierra Trails, Mineral King is nearly empty (there is room for maybe 20 cars, not hundreds). Not that there is anything secret or less impressive than other hikes. It just isn't famous like the JMT or HST. And that makes Mineral King loop hard to beat.

The High Sierra Trail is actually not far from my trail, at times even parallel to it 2-3 km away. You probably would encounter dozens of hikers on the HST during any summer day. I saw far fewer on the trail: Zero on day 1, 3 on day 2, zero again on day 3, although 12 or so near Mineral King on the last day (mostly day hikers). The route wasn't entirely empty, I saw tents/people when passing visible campsites, just not on the trail.

Elevations are in meters; the top right shows a bit of the High Sierra trail running parallel.

I started in the afternoon, planning only to get to Cliff Creek, which goes over Timber Gap, followed by a long descent. In the afternoon sun, ascending to Timber Gap (< 2 hours) was a sweaty affair despite pleasant air temperatures and largely forested. The ascent is up to about 3000m, followed by a much longer descent to Cliff Creek, the descent is almost double the initial climb.

Cliff Creek can be a difficult or even dangerous crossing during spring with high water, but once I found the right crossing (took a bit of searching), it was easy. Cliff Creek is marked as a campsite with a bear box and indeed there were already 3 tents nearby (it was about 7 pm). Too crowded for me and I continued because I expected to find better opportunities. This wasn't guaranteed: The climb started, it is a steep canyon, and the vegetation is thick. However, after about 20 mins, I found a perfect spot near the creek, with a little waterfall, and no bugs. Outstanding camp site and I slept well, possibly because this was still at relatively low altitude, around 2200m. The standard recommendation, which would have been my fallback if I hadn't found anything else, is continuing to the next official camp with bear boxes at Pinto Lake, another 4k and 500m of climbing.

Early in the morning, before the sun made it over the mountains

The next morning started before 7 as I read trip reports warning of the difficulty of Black Rock Pass, 1400 m climbing with a full pack and without shade (or in feet: it goes from 7100 to 11,600). While not easy, it certainly wasn't grueling, and I got to the top after 11am without feeling particularly exhausted, less than 5 hours after I started. Cliff Creek to Black Rock Pass was the hardest part of the loop.

The climb begins gently after crossing Cliff Creek, along the creek with lots of vegetation, sufficiently overgrown that I twice lost the trail. Near the bottom of the waterfall in the photo (I think that waterfall is Cliff Creek, too, but maybe there is another contributor to it), it veers away to go over a ridge to the flat area near Pinto Lake. A path to the right (south) with a bear box presumably leads to camp sites, but the main trail briefly goes through marshy meadows. That may be half the distance and 1/3 of the elevation gain. Then the climb starts for real on a scree slope, now fully exposed to the sun. Trees - or any meaningful vegetation - are gone.

Columbine is the lake on top
2 days later I get there from the other side

While going up the switchbacks, one terrace after another with a lake become visible to the right/south: Spring, Cyclamen, and Columbine. The switchbacks themselves are strenuous and boring, but the views of the lakes and valley below are fantastic. Everytime a new lake is revealed, a good time for a short break.

Black Rock Pass crests the Great Western Divide and crossing it leads to a different world. The western part is hot, scrubby foothills and some forests, but now it is all alpine mountains with lakes and ragged granite peaks.

Big 5 lakes - I think #2

The first basin is Little Five Lakes, which came highly recommended. "Definitely a place to camp", "spend more than a day here" seems to be the summary. One ranger considers it the most magical spot and his favorite in the whole Sierra. Well, wasn't my experience. Now early afternoon with a biting sun and even more directly biting mosquitoes, this was instead one of the "why am I doing this?" times. I don't think Little Fives Lakes is to blame. I got there between 1-2pm, my least favorite part of the day, and was welcomed by hungry mosquitoes. Slathering myself in Picaridin kept them from biting or landing on me, but didn't change the dial from miserable to pleasant. I'd rather be going up Blackrock Pass. I had lunch near the intersection of my route and Big Arroyo and somewhat listlessly explored the next lake as well, but can't say it was enjoyable. Flying bugs and hot sun overwhelmed whatever charms the Little Five Lakes basin had. My visit to Little Five Lakes was a bust. That July is peak season for mosquitoes in the Sierra is not a new observation:

"The Sierra mosquitoes are courageous and of good size... They sting anywhere, any time of day, wherever they can find anything worth while, until they are themselves stung by frost."
Muir, John. The Complete Works of John Muir: Travel Memoirs, Wilderness Essays, Environmental Studies & Letters (p. 716). Madison & Adams Press.

After an hour or two, I decided that this requires a change of plan, I wouldn't stay here, and continued. Slowly trudged along towards the Big Five Lakes basin with repeated breaks. Still too many bugs, and too hot, and too much sun, or sand, or maybe it went up and down too much, or trees in the way. By 3.30, I found a spot without flying bugs, sun was at a lower angle, and I made coffee and started liking where I was. After a long break, I continued towards the Big Five Lakes and the rest of the day was lovely again.

Heading towards the Big Five Lakes Basin, life is good again

Only one of the lakes in the Big Five Lakes basin was on my planned route, the others would be a detour on an unmaintained spur trail going west. It was still early and now I was happy to do this detour (which would be an out and back). This part is definitely off the beaten path, by lake 3 it is so unbeaten that it becomes hard to make out any trail. People come here as I saw good sites to camp that clearly had seen use within the last month. It is a bit swampy, lots of grass, and unsurprisingly buggy. I continued to lake 4 and found an excellent sandy area slightly above the lake, bug free until sunset.

Lake 3, I think

The trail is getting overgrown. This is a slightly elevated path above the swamp, now getting hemmed in by trees that want to grow on the elevated part as well. It looks as if somebody tried to plant a row of trees, but it is just that the trees started growing where they didn't get stepped on. There is still room to get through, but not much longer, now the trees will win. I encountered this repeatedly, maybe 4 times just between lakes 2 and 3, a sign of too few hikers on this side trail.

Around 7.30/8.00, I had to put up the inner tent as mosquitoes started showing up. As I looked out, there were a dozen of them hanging on the net outside trying to join me on the inside. I didn't have to stay indoors for very long. It was a moonless night and the stars were great, which I rather see directly than filtered through netting. By 10, the bugs had left and I was outside again. I couldn't sleep well (nor the next day) and attribute the difference to the elevation on the second and third night, almost 1000m higher than the first night.

In the morning I retraced my steps to the main route - sort of. It wasn't the same way I came until I joined up with the more established trail from lake 2 back to the intersection. Lake 1 is on the main route and substantially downhill from the other lakes. While I didn't see anybody on the trail this day, it is clear from the trail condition that this sees many more visitors than lakes 2-5.

Big Five Lakes # 1

The Five Lakes trail is paralleled by Big Arroyo and Big Arroyo trail (1-2 km aerial distance to the northeast, the canyon in the next photo) and the High Sierra Trail (another 1 km beyond that, probably along the foot of the mountains). On the far side of the High Sierra Trail are the Kaweah Peaks: Kaweah Queen, Black Kaweah, Red Kaweah, and Mt Kaweah. Every one of them is over 4000m. The High Sierra Trail is about halfway between from where I took the picture and the mountain tops.

From left to right, that is Black Kaweah, Red Kaweah, and Mt. Kaweah
Big Arroyo is the canyon in the foreground

At the eastern end of the 1st Big 5 Lake, I briefly lost the trail again and followed a creek, which would have gotten me into Big Arroyo. But as it got steeper and steeper and the creek became more a waterfall, I realized that this was not the right way. First I have to go over another ridge, so uphill, not downhill! Afterwards, there is a steep downhill into Lost Canyon. A slide obliterated the trail and it is almost as much of a bushwhack as my earlier error would have been, the difference being that here obviously many other people have recently tried to find a way. But not a trail yet, just many attempts at finding one - which eventually recreates one. More sliding than walking, but a preparation for the even longer and steeper slide down Sawtooth.

At the bottom, crossing a log leads into the sweet Lost Canyon. A narrow forested canyon with a clear stream and small interspersed meadows. Gentle uphill, shady, and it is such a sweet place that even a hike during the bad time of day is pleasant (now it was about 2 pm).

Eventually trees peter out, revealing and a much fiercer granite vista.

Approaching the end of Lost Canyon with a pointy Sawtooth Peak

The back of Lost Canyon has a double climb, first to Columbine Lake and then to Sawtooth pass. It looks intimidating from the approach, but the first half to Columbine is surprisingly easy, with a very developed, almost manicured, path. The second part, from Columbine Lake to Sawtooth, isn't any of that.

going up to Columbine Lake - a lot of effort must have gone
into building this trail!

Columbine Lake may be the highlight of the route. It comes as a surprise, tucked into a bowl of granite on the Great Western Divide near the top. Camping is possible, but there are only 3 or 4 suitable sites and the rangers discourage camping because human waste has been an issue. The area is fragile and overused. At this altitude, everything moves more slowly.

Columbine Lake, with Sawtooth Peak and Pass behind it

The outflow of Columbine Lake is Cliff Creek, so now I cross it again (which at its origin is just a tiny little creek). The climb to Sawtooth pass is hard, big rocks. Initially there are some cairns and at the end a trail reappears (gravel), but the middle part can be confusing and require some backtracking to find a route (at least for me).

The way to the top

From the top of the pass, I had read about "complicated route finding", "constant side-hilling", "slow descent". The closest to a trail runs along the ridge for a while. The ranger said that some people try this, but also that it isn't worth trying to find a trail and instead go straight down. From the top it is clear where you want to go and straight down the chute is almost a fun jog/slide down. Like running down a sand dune. The "almost" is only because gravel doesn't feel as nice as sand and you want to avoid bigger rocks. A really fast and (I think) easy descent.

Sliding/jogging down the chute is the easiest and fastest way

At the bottom of the chute, the trail continues to the two Monarch Lakes. They are popular, but right after Columbine, I found them rather disappointing. Lower Monarch is marked as wilderness camping and it has a lot of visitors, there were maybe 6 tents. So popular that it even has a toilet. That was a dud, so I continued to the upper Monarch Lake, a terrace up and with a steep climb on a primitive/unmaintained/no trail, but only for 1 km. Yet that climb is enough to discourage people, even for a visit, and I had the upper lake to myself. On the populated side of the Western Divide and close to Mineral King, these lakes are not in the same league as the pristine lakes on the other side. Upper Monarch even has a dam. I'll skip those lakes in the future.

upper Monarch lake

I put the inner tent up for mosquitoes, but like the previous night, it was only necessary during dusk. Most of the night I was just outside, but it was another very restless night. I couldn't get comfortable (despite nice sandy ground, pleasant cool temperatures) and my mind was racing. Monarch lakes are still over 3000m and I just think that elevation takes a longer acclimatization. Up to 2500m seems to be fine immediately.