TR: Mineral King Loop 8/2-8/5/2020

[BardoPond]

As fairly recent Sierra converts, my partner and I decided to embark on our first multi-day hike this summer. We went for a fairly standard loop in Mineral King (Timber Gap - Black Rock Pass - Sawtooth Pass) and took a few detours (some planned, some not quite). Thanks to advice from several HSTers we felt reasonably confident in our plan and gear.

We arrived at the Timber Gap trailhead around 9am. The first day of hiking was a relatively unrewarding slog, with lots of elevation gain and loss. The highlights of this section were some beautiful flowers during the descent to Cliff Creek, and the creek crossing itself. We decided to press ahead and have a late lunch (and refreshing swim) at Pinto Lake. This is the last campsite before the long, exposed climb up to Blackrock Pass. After a brief consultation, we decided it was too early to call it a day. I had an itch to try to reach Spring Lake which looked like a simple enough off-trail excursion. I had read a quote from Secor that said to contour at 10,000 ft. Sure enough, once we reached that altitude I spotted the beginning of a use trail.

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Here I probably took Secor too literally, as I tried to stick around 10,000 which got us into a somewhat steep talus field. After an already taxing day with heavy packs, let's just say my partner wasn't in the most adventurous mood, but she didn't give up. We followed my gut feeling to head down to the creek, where the terrain looked gentler and flatter. From then it was more straightforward, with just the occasional thick bush to get past. At least one of us was always convinced we'd be at the lake "in a few minutes".

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Our efforts were rewarded when we reached secluded Spring Lake in time for a swim and dinner as the sun was setting.

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The next morning, we made our way back to the trail with much more confidence, fresh legs, and good moods.

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From the switchbacks to Black Rock Pass we had a good view of Spring Lake, and a preview of what awaited us in a couple days.

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[BardoPond]

We reached Black Rock Pass before noon and descended to Little Five Lakes, where we had our lunch.

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We continued to Lower Big Five Lake, where we set up camp under a tree and enjoyed a small campfire.

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The next day we headed down to Lost Canyon and then up following the creek. This turned out to be my favorite section of the hike. As we reached a clearing surrounded by trees and granite peaks, I felt a sense of absolute peace that can't be conveyed in photos.

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As we got closer to Columbine Lake, the terrain got steeper and vegetation quickly got sparser, making the sequoias really stand out.

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At 11,000 ft of elevation, Columbine Lake was markedly different from the previous ones: almost entirely surrounded by granite, with a few green fields near the water. The grass smelled amazing.

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From there we got yet another view of Spring Lake.

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[BardoPond]

We decided to spend the night at Columbine and tackle Sawtooth Pass the next morning.

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Shortly after reaching Sawtooth Pass, I decided to leave my pack down and try to reach Glacier Pass. Since I didn't know the precise location, on my first attempt I arrived at what looked like yet another pass that also led to Columbine. I got back on the trail and made another attempt further down, spotting a use trail that went in the direction of Empire Mountain. From there I quickly reached the real Glacier Pass, and spent some time trying to figure out a route to Cyclamen and Spring Lake for a hypothetical future trip.

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I reconvened with my partner back on the trail, and we continued to descend towards Monarch Lakes. This is where we got lost due to a combination of a myriad of use trails, and a discrepancy between the "official" trail (which implied "skiing" straight down from Sawtooth) and both Alltrails and the rangers' advice to bear in the direction of Glacier Pass before turning towards Monarch. In hindsight the official route would have been the least confusing. At some point our route was getting increasingly steep and rocky, and I felt that we were on the wrong side of a little canyon. I could see an old trail down below that likely led to Monarch, but I didn't want to take risks trying to reach it. After filling up our bottles from a helpful little creek, we retraced our steps back up around the canyon, until we found ourselves back to the sandy slope. From there we carefully zig-zagged down until we were back on trail. Once again I was thankful for my partner's stamina and trust in my decision-making.

When we reached Monarch Lakes we were exhausted and a swim was in order. After lunch, it was time to make our way back to the car.

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We had a great adventure and are itching to get back to the mountains as soon as we can, perhaps after upgrading to some lighter gear (our entry-level car camping tent and 20F sleeping bags were probably not ideal for this kind of trip).

[Rockyroad]

Thanks for the terrific TR and photos. Going to Spring Lake is a long first day! Lost Canyon is also one of my favorite segments of that loop.

[Shawn]

Beautiful photos and very nice TR. Thanks for sharing.

[levi]

Thanks for the TR, well done! I'm clearly overdue to finally check out the Mineral King area never been there.

[Harlen]

Great route, and really nice pictures of it. Congratulations on a great trip.

[windknot]

Thanks for the report and photos! Glad you had a good trip, and it's nice to see an area I haven't been to yet.

The silver lining of starting out with entry-level gear is that if you learn to enjoy trips carrying the additional weight, then when you do upgrade later you'll have even lighter packs and more potential enjoyment (or more accurately, less cause for lack of enjoyment). On a recent trip this past week I brought a tent better suited to car camping (my wife's REI Passage 2, which is a full 3 lbs heavier than my Tarptent Squall 2). But with rain in the forecast, we wanted the double wall protection and sturdier tent floor (and more room for 2 people to hang out inside the tent while it rained). All features ended up coming in handy, so I suppose I'm now in the market for another tent that splits the difference better.

[BardoPond]

The silver lining of starting out with entry-level gear is that if you learn to enjoy trips carrying the additional weight, then when you do upgrade later you'll have even lighter packs and more potential enjoyment (or more accurately, less cause for lack of enjoyment). On a recent trip this past week I brought a tent better suited to car camping (my wife's REI Passage 2, which is a full 3 lbs heavier than my Tarptent Squall 2). But with rain in the forecast, we wanted the double wall protection and sturdier tent floor (and more room for 2 people to hang out inside the tent while it rained). All features ended up coming in handy, so I suppose I'm now in the market for another tent that splits the difference better.

Agree, it made sense to use what we already had this time to set a baseline.
We're now considering a Big Agnes Tiger Wall which might fit your requirements too (ultralight free-standing) and ZPacks sleeping bags.

[sekihiker]

Thanks for posting your wonderful photos of one of my favorite areas. Nice report.