Brainstorming some Mineral King / SEKI adventures - ideas?

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gremlin
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Brainstorming some Mineral King / SEKI adventures - ideas?

Post by gremlin »

I signed up because of some of brookies knowledge in the fishing forum. This seems to be the most informed and best behaved board of it's type I managed to find. Congratulations guys and girls.

A small group of my friends and myself would like to go on a week or more length trip into the sierras. I am familiar with mineral king from sawtooth gap on down. I have done most if not all of the day hikeable hikes from cold springs / atwell as well as most if not all of the one day treks from lodgepole / wolverton.

One member of the hike is a photographer and really wants to catch some time at Precipice lake. I personally have always wanted to get down into the 9 lakes basin and stomp around the kaweahs but that could be a different trip. Fishing is a priority for me. I would prefer lure / bait but fly could be done. We will be eating what we catch when possible. All of us are rainbow / brook experienced and none of us have caught or tried for any goldens.

We are all capable of moderate climbs and are comportable cross country if the distance isn't extreme and the land marks are good. The trip will likely be scheduled to happen between mid june and late july / early august and the general preference is for higher cooler altitudes. None of us want to go bushwhacking.

The original itenary was going to start at bearpaw and hit precipice and hamilton on the way over the kaweah gap, then down the HST into little five lakes with a day or two there and big five lakes then either blackrock or lost canyon into spring lake and cyclamen. We hadn't yet decided on whether to go from there to pinto and back down into mineral king or to exit somewhere else.

From what I have seen the fishing is limited on that route and the route itself might have some hairy spots for the less experienced packers.

Any ideas or insight - even flat out suggestions or telling me something is stupid or dangerous would be appreciated.

Abba
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StumbleBum
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Post by StumbleBum »

I did a trip a few years ago that covered some of that territory. A semi-loop out of Mineral King (Timber gap -> redwood mdw grove -> bearpaw -> hamilton lakes -> nine lakes - big arroyo -> little five lakes -> black rock pass -> timber gap).

I don't remember the fishing (fly fishing) being spectacular, but not terrible either.

Scenic highpoints (at least for me):
redwood mdw grove
hamilton lakes - the view of Valhala is spectacular.
precipice lake
nine lakes basin

The worst part of the trip was decending off of Black Rock Pass. Not technicaly difficult - but it's a long steep decent. My feet and knees were complaining loudly by the time I got down - and it was still a ways to go to a campsite.
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