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Wandering Daisy wrote:Crescent Meadow to Mineral King would be SUCH a great trip, without having to drop to the Keweah River.
I did that exact trip with my two kids (11 and 14 yr old) and one of their friends back in 1999. Crescent Meadow to Kaweah Gap to Blackrock Pass to Glacier Pass to Mineral King. It was a great trip (except it was hard to get teenagers out of bed in the morning) and was the primary reason I converted to lightweight backpacking the following year.
The wife picked us up in Mineral King in a second car. However, I don't think it would be that difficult to park your car at Mineral King and hitch hike to the trailhead at Crescent Meadow. With a good sign it shouldn't be too hard to get a ride, although it will cost you half a day.
What's wrong with my Mineral King 50ish-mile itinerary (that other groups have apparently not done this)?
The combined too much up down vertical plus mileage for most people however as you note you are experienced so know what you are serving up. A strenuous trip in the classic WP guidebook Sierra South would probably rate half your route in just 5d 4n as strenuous. Most of the places traveled have superb scenery that cry out for some time to look at besides pounding up and down a trail.
Your route will have tons of great scenery, there's just going to be a ton of up and down. There's an alternate route starting from Crescent Meadow where you'd be able to see much of the same scenery. Starting on the High Sierra Trail, on Day 1 you could hike out to Redwood Meadow. This is about a 15 mile hike, but there isn't any serious climbing, and at the end of the day when you're most tired you'll be heading downhill. I would highly recommend pushing on to Redwood Meadow instead of camping at Bearpaw. The Bearpaw campground is crowded and offers no redeeming views. It feels like a car camping site. From Redwood continue towards Black Rock Pass. This pass is exhausting and you're on a south-facing slope, but the views at the top are lovely. From there it's a short descent to Little Five Lakes. If you also wanted to throw in a side trip to Big Five Lakes, you could either take the trail, or take an easy cross-country route from the first lake at Little Five. From Little Five it's a very gentle ascent up the High Sierra Trail and over Kaweah Gap to Hamilton Lakes. This is a lollipop loop where you'd have to repeat the eleven mile stretch from Bearpaw to Crescent Meadow, but that's a nice stretch of trail.
If you want to hike out of Mineral King, you might as well explore the mineral king area instead of shooting up to the HST. You are better off using 5 days to explore little 5 and big 5 and the areas in between (could do a day trip to 9 lakes or eagle scout peak if you wanted as well). Blackrock Pass->Sawtooth Pass really is the best option, I understand your hesitation to these passes but you might want to revisit this option to make sure as it foots the bill perfectly.
If you want to visit Hamilton lake->Kaweah Gap, The suggestion of looping back around using cloud and dead man is a great suggestion.
I have done Lodgepole to Mineral King before but I hitch hiked out of there. It was a fantastic trip but it was more direct through high country using cross country passes. Tablelands is also a fantastic area and can be linked back to the HST and kaweah gap using cross country passes.
I'm in SSSdave's camp. I couldn't trek through that fine area without exploring some of the peaks, passes, and high basins. Both sides of the Kaweahs are brilliant! Why not destroy your knees right out the gate- Glacier Pass, to Black Rock Pass, and finish 'em off with Pyra Queen Col. spend day 3 resting up/ hobbling about- cursing me, and praising the views in Kaweah Basin- one of the most remote spots in the entire range! Stagger down Picket Guard Creek, and limp over to the Kern Hot Springs for more knee therapy. Long day up to Little Claire Lake, via a short cross-country short-cut from Moraine Lake to Big Arroyo, and on home via Franklin and down, down, down. All the best; you can't really go wrong. Cheers, Harlen.
Last edited by Harlen on Thu Mar 23, 2017 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
I did almost your exact route about 5 years ago and really loved it. I liked starting out over Timber Gap because it was very easy and gave me time to acclimatize/warm up. Despite what many say, I thought everything up to bearpaw was absolutely gorgeous, especially if you are a forest/tree lover. Bearpaw is not particularly nice but the route from there up is fantastic. Plan on wanting an extra day to explore the area from precipice to little five lakes. Upper Big Arroyo is so special and there are many great places from nine lakes to 5 lakes. I would want to camp in the upper little five lakes over big five lakes. I went out over Black Rock Pass but Franklin or Glacier would be great! Lost Canyon is really beautiful too. I think 5 nights, six days would be ideal and give you plenty of time to explore. I think I did 8n/9d but spent quite a lot of time exploring off trail.
Enjoy your trip!!
Thats a great hike. Ive done a loops over Timber gap and coming over Black rock pass. Another one over Timber Gap coming out of Sawtooth pass. And another loop over Franklin and out Sawtooth. The decent out over Franklin pass is by far the most gradual. The view of the the big arroyo from Kaweah Gap is one of my favorite in the sierras.
I would avoid camping at Bear Paw. Its dusty and can have lots of people. Ive only found one little camp site between Bear Paw and Hamilton lakes, just upstream of the footbridge. Last year It was taken and we were forced to camp at Bear Paw. There is also a nice camp site just after you cross the middle fork before you hike up to bear paw.
Check your milage for 5 days. There is alot of up and down. I will be hiking up over Franklin Pass this weekend and hoping to come back over Sawtooth if conditions permit.
Since I have much the same itinerary and much the same question--but a little more time--I hope you don't mind if I piggyback on your thread. I have reservations to leave Mineral King on the Franklin Pass trail on August 1, and I have 7 days. This means I must go counterclockwise. I will NOT attempt Glacier or Sawtooth with so much snow. I can reasonably make this loop in 6 days, leaving me one day of layover for day hikes. The question is, which area of this loop should I spend the layover day? Spend it in Nine Lakes Basin, in the Little Five Lakes area, or somewhere else? I'm tentatively putting it in Nine Lakes Basin:
1) Mineral King to Franklin Lakes--is there good camping at the upper lake or should I stay below with the crowds?
2) Franklin Lakes--Franklin Pass--Forester--Little Claire--Camp somewhere in Soda Creek or Lost Creek before heading up to Big Five.
3) Soda/Lost via Big Five to Little Five Lakes. Perhaps drop pack to explore Big Five basin along the way? Continue on to camp at lake 10410?
4) Little Five Lakes to Nine Lakes Basin. Is the first lake campable/scenic?
5) Explore Nine Lakes Basin
6) Over Kaweah Gap--Precipice Lake--Hamilton--BearPaw--camp at Redwood Meadow
7) Redwood Meadow to Mineral King.
Drive home, possibly stopping for a blood transfusion to replace mosquito losses.
Alternatively, I could cut off the northern part of the route (Nine Lakes, Kaweah, Hamilton, Redwood) and come back over Blackrock Pass. This would give me more time to explore the southern portions at the cost of missing the northern. Perhaps a day exploring Little Five, or bushwhacking up to Amphitheater, or a dayhike up and back Lost Creek to see Columbine. But is any of that worth missing the 9 Lakes, Kaweah, Hamilton? That is a question I need help with. I'm at the stage in life where I might not get back to this region again.
