Which Mineral King loop? (Timber-Sawtooth vs Franklin-Sawtooth)

[tie]

Looking online, I've found trail descriptions for two main loops out of Mineral King:

1. Timber Gap - Black Rock Pass, then Lost Canyon trail to Sawtooth Pass (clockwise loop)
~28mi, 9300' vertical

2. Franklin Pass, then Lost Canyon trail to Sawtooth Pass (counterclockwise loop)
~28mi, 8000' vertical

Which has better scenery?

(If it matters, I'm thinking early September, i.e., this weekend. )

On the first option (North loop), I don't know if I would take the side trip to Big Five Lakes or not. From Sawtooth Pass I'd probably climb Sawtooth Pk, then drop to Monarch Lakes and Crystal Lake before regaining the trail.

[AlmostThere]

I hated Sawtooth, so I would vote for Franklin Pass to any other pass.... I enjoyed Farewell Gap and beyond, coming back around Shotgun to Franklin. Enjoyed going out and around over Black Rock east to west, and back through Timber Gap. Never bothering with scree hell again. Glacier Pass was better.

[franklin411]

Frankly, it's disgraceful that the NPS has abandoned the Sawtooth Pass trail. They know full well that it's a heavily used route, and the warren of use trails up there makes it very easy to get into dangerous spots. I don't just mean the torture of plowing through mountains of scree. I mean the real danger of solid granite chutes covered in a thin layer of loose scree, which is the functional equivalent of ice. True, you're not going to go flying 1000' or 500' or even 50' on the Sawtooth Pass trail, but you could go sliding 20 feet, hit a rock, and have a very very bad time.

I'm no geologist/engineer, but it seems to me that Franklin Pass is no different than Sawtooth Pass. Both are decomposing granite slopes, east-west facing passes, and basically mountains of scree. But for some reason, the NPS found it possible to build an excellent, durable trail over Franklin Pass, and Sawtooth Pass hikers have been left with an abandoned, extremely dangerous trail despite the fact that both trails are heavily used.

Which, for the OP, is a long way of saying: avoid Sawtooth Pass if you can. It's not technically difficult...but it is a scree covered warren of use trails that can lead you to some extremely dangerous places where it's difficult to descend without losing control, and it's difficult to backtrack without losing control.

[The hermit]

Franklin to sawtooth is a beautiful loop. I especially enjoyed Columbine lake and the climb up to sawtooth (Eastside). I did get into some pretty sketchy terrain after climbing sawtooth peak. just don't be tempted to drop too low on the way back to the pass. the west side of the pass is no problem going down

[kpeter]

There are other alternatives. The 7 day loop I did was Franklin to Kaweah Gap to Timber Gap. If you are interested, my report is here:

http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... t=franklin

You can also do Franklin to Black Rock Pass.

[tie]

Thanks for the tips, but I really am just trying to decide between these two loops, both using Sawtooth Pass. (Neither time for nor interest in anything longer.)

@franklin411, if I do Sawtooth Pass, it will be from E to W, which is preferred. I'll be careful. And my plan A is to skip the pass and go via Sawtooth Peak instead (ascend NW ridge, descend SE ridge).

[Buford]

I have done versions of both those loops. Both are worth it. There are other variations depending on off trail ability.

One section of each drops into lower forrest that I don’t like as much.
I found cliff creek not so scenic.
I found lower Rattlesnake to lower Lost Canyon not so scenic.

If I had to pick, Timber is better because of the ability to hit the 5 Lakes basins.

Highlights of the two loops in no order are Blackrock pass, Little and Big 5 Lakes, Spring Lake, Cyclaman Lake, Columbine Lake, upper Lost Canyon, Franklin Lakes, Sawtooth Pass, Sawtooth Peak, Franklin Pass, Upper Rattlesnake Creek.

I don’t get the big deal about going down Sawtooth. I would would not want to go up it.

[kpeter]

I very much enjoyed the Little 5 Lakes, and the upper ones including 10410 which I thought was worth the detour. I thought 10410 made my whole trip worth while.

On the other hand, I really liked Franklin Lakes, the upper part of Rattlesnake Canyon, and Little Claire was nice. The coloration of the rocks around Franklin Lakes, especially in the evening, was unreal.

So either of your two proposed routes would have some very nice destinations. They both would also have some more pedestrian stretches. Soda Creek, Cliff Creek, and even Big Five lakes were just OK to me, not unattractive by any means but not as achingly beautiful as Franklin or Little Five.

[tie]

That's exactly what I needed to know! Thanks a ton. I think I'll try the northern loop over Black Rock Pass, perhaps checking out the Little Five Lakes detour. Franklin Lake I can reach on a separate dayhike.

[TehipiteTom]

FWIW, a ranger I talked to at Mineral King this summer was exasperated at how popular the 5 Lakes Loop has become, and was urging the Franklin Pass loop as a less-used alternative.