Mineral King Loop 6/26-28
Just sharing some pics brief trip report/pics from this weekend. Did a loop over 2 nights, itinerary/route below
Day 1 - Mineral King up over Sawtooth pass, down lost canyon, north towards big five/little five lakes and dropping into Big Arroyo to camp along the HST (I really should have pushed to camp closer to Kaweah gap/heart lake but I was wiped!) Mosquitoes were very bad at big five/little five and in Big Arroyo, stay a bit off the river or further up the valley and they’re better.
Day 2 - HST over Kaweah Gap, precipice lake, Hamilton lakes, to bearpaw. The section from Kaweah Gap to Hamilton is one of my favorites still a tiny bit of snow at Precipice. From there, dropped down to Redwood Meadow - this section is fairly brushy/lots of downed trees, including a massive sequoia right near the ranger station. Saw nobody on this stretch from bearpaw. I continued on to the cliff creek trail junction with black rock pass trail, where I camped that night; there’s a bear box and a bunch of primitive sites on the creek, quite lovely!
Day 3 - Cliff creek trail over Timber Gap and back down. I loved this section, really good wildflowers and meadows. Climb was tough after the previous 2 days but I had good snacks waiting at the car!
Overall awesome trip! Hope this helps someone
Stats - 45 miles, 13k gain