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maverick wrote:
What is your reason for wanting to exit via Sawtooth Pass, some people avoid the descent, Franklin Pass would be an alternative as an entry or exit to keep in mind.
I wanted to keep the mileage to ~30 miles and not loop down to Franklin Pass. Also I heard Lost Canyon was gorgeous and want to check it out. Sawtooth seems like a pain in the butt, but with it being the final exit point, I figured why not.
Thanks for the info and suggestion! I'll keep it in mind in case we find ourselves covering much more ground than I anticipate.
SSSdave wrote:The chances of receiving a Friday morning wilderness permit for either choice are poor. Because all those permits for such very popular trailheads would have been already taken by Thursday noon. Walk up permits are available the day before from 11am. To get those permits, one must get to a ranger station before they open up ( 8am? ) on the DAY BEFORE and then get a number to be used as a line position at 11am. So one less trail day.
Great info, thank you. I am planning on showing up very early Friday morning, seeing if anything is available for Friday, and if not get a permit for Saturday, and get a walk-in campsite for Friday night. One less trail day but we have the flexibility to account for this. Plus it would help us to acclimate for a day.
rightstar76 wrote:Flip a coin. Seriously. Each route is great. It's like two desserts that are equally delicious. The only thing I was thinking was solitude but since it's a holiday week, you probably won't find more solitude on the Mineral King loop. Both will be busy.
maiathebee wrote:
From what I interpreted, he's planning to drive up and camp and then get permit in the morning, but used confusing language by saying walk-in permit instead of a walk-in site.
Should note though that sleeping in the car is not allowed if you can't get a site. More sites in total at Cedar Grove for the Rae Lakes loop trip. Moraine will have just reopened, good that you're not going two days earlier. That said, with it being before the holiday week it is unlikely you'll find a site if you leave from LA after work. You may as well take a power nap at home after work and leave late at night and just go straight to permit office to wait for it to open.
Don't make your trip decision about where you're more likely to get permits. Any walk-in permit is attainable if you are up early enough. Just take your sleeping bag and sit outside the office as early as you're willing to.
The loops you describe are going to be very different experiences in terms of how much company you'll have on trail. With the South Fork bridge out and all the people you'll be around on the Rae Lakes loop trip, I'd choose Mineral King.
Yup, exactly right. Sorry for the confusion. Good suggestion, I think I'll just leave early early morning. I'm thinking Mineral King will be the ticket this time. Rae Lakes can wait till I have some time in the middle of the week!
Thanks everyone for the great info! It's huge help to someone who hasn't ventured into SEKI yet.
Alright I think I'm gonna plan on doing the Mineral King loop I attached in my first posting. We'll bring some poles but not worry about crampons. If after lower Big Five Lakes we find we are cooking through more miles than we anticipate, we'll head to Franklin pass instead of Sawtooth and finish up that way.
If anyone has any further suggestions to this plan let me know!
Wandering Daisy wrote:There is an ugly, but free open Forest Service "dispersed camping area" just as you near the bottom King Canyon on the way to Cedar Grove. No facilities or water, but legal to sleep in your car. I think it is shown on the FS web site under "campgrounds". Not easy to find in the dark so you need to really have it located if you plan on arriving in the dark.
I was looking for exactly this info, thank you. Figured it wouldn't be legal but hadn't looked into it yet. I think I'm gonna leave early Friday AM (like 2 AM). I'll keep this in mind though if anything changes.
Wandering Daisy wrote:There is an ugly, but free open Forest Service "dispersed camping area" just as you near the bottom King Canyon on the way to Cedar Grove. No facilities or water, but legal to sleep in your car. I think it is shown on the FS web site under "campgrounds". Not easy to find in the dark so you need to really have it located if you plan on arriving in the dark.
I was looking for exactly this info, thank you. Figured it wouldn't be legal but hadn't looked into it yet. I think I'm gonna leave early Friday AM (like 2 AM). I'll keep this in mind though if anything changes.
idk where in LA you are but you might want to leave earlier than 2am since getting to Mineral King ranger station will take about 5-6 hours. The road in there is very curvy and takes forever. It's shorter by distance than getting to Cedar Grove or Lodgepole but takes an extra hour longer.
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