Although I would have felt pretty comfortable doing the descent by myself, I definitely felt a lot more confident surrounded by all this expertise! It took us 8 hours to hike 8 miles, which was humbling. Mountains all around! The rangers headed off and I spent some more time taking pictures of the lake. There are many spots, including where we pitched our tents, that are 100 feet from the water, but the environment is very fragile, and you have to hold your #2s for before or after. Securing permits for the Wonderland Trail is incredibly difficult, especially via the lottery system. Anybody hike sawtooth pass to big 5 lakes. This resort is made up of cabins, a shop, and a restaurant. 5 miles, the trail begins a switchbacking climb up to the crest of the Great Western Divide that divides Lost Canyon from Columbine Lake. As for the glacier pass, the snow levels have been extremely high this year. Crisis averted and dinner served.
We tackled rigorous hikes with steep slopes and long miles. Having visited the Big Five Lakes on my last trip to the area, I decided to press on to the Little Five Lakes. We whooped with joy as we unwrapped the car, used the toilet, and changed into car clothes.
Call the Mineral King ranger station. We could only take like 10 steps before we were panting and I was seriously losing concentration and motor skills. Glacier pass sawtooth pass + big five lakes hiking loops. The hike seems to take longer than it should, but eventually you'll arrive at the big camping area at the largest Little Five Lake. Little and Big Five Lakes were visible and you could even see down to the bottom of some of the lakes. We camped on the northwest side of Columbine Lake, which gave great views of the lake and Sawtooth Peak. Finally, we crested the top and saw the beautiful Columbine Lake with Sawtooth Peak standing stately overhead.
Always test your gear before taking it into the backcountry! However, when we picked up our permits, the park ranger informed us that camping is discouraged at Columbine Lake because the land is fragile and overused. You can either do it at the beginning or end of your trip. Remember that the permit reservation is insufficient as a permit.
Using what I call Five Lakes Pass (described in a post above) is definitely a good idea. From here, the trail switchbacks down a lush, north-facing slope down to another crossing of Monarch Creek next to a lush meadow. Topographic map (Tom Harris Mineral King Trail Map). Langley in the distance. And the views were jaw-dropping. Small plastic water bottles filled with whisky 🙂. Spring Lake, the lowest of the trio, was the first visible lake. 12, 000 feet of elevation with a starting elevation of 7, 800 feet and a peak elevation of 11, 800 feet. It seems as though some bears are smart enough to capture many bags of food hanging from trees. Secure in a diaper fashion with lanyard or rope. Glacier pass sawtooth pass + big five lakes hiking loop images. And Columbine Lake materialized, completing the triple crown. Multi-tool with knife (Gerber MDime Mini Multi-Tool). From Pinto Lake, climb to the top of Black Rock Pass, head down on Big Five Lakes Trail to Little Five and Big Five Lakes to camp (we camped at Little Five). Finally, the parking lot came into view and before I knew it, I was there.
The whole terrain in there is gorgeous. It's always best to call the ranger stations before starting your trek to ask about the conditions of the mountain passes and get an idea of what equipment they recommend. If you want to hike in the counter-clockwise direction, you'd continue on the Sawtooth Pass Trail. Maybe it was a backcountry ranger? This trail walk is only partially shown on the map you linked; but it's well-marked and will be fast walking compared to your last few days). This is your best bet for camping on your first night, and there's no doubt you're going to feel like you earned it. It was super sunny and hot in the evening sun, and the trail was just so steep and rocky. Rangers can fill you in on snow conditions before you start your hike, but it's still best to make sure you schedule this hike after most of the snow has melted so that you don't encounter dangerous conditions. We headed towards Big Five Lakes and we met with a surprise wildfire. Trailhead Elevation. Green plants, wildflowers, mountains with just a touch of snow on them, and the creek meandering through. Backpacking the Five Lakes Loop in Mineral King. You can leave your car here while on your trek. Jump to Day 4: Exploring the Nine Lakes Basin.
I had initially regretted not hiking farther the previous day to camp at Big Five Lakes. Wool base layer shirt (Minus33 Merino Wool Chocorua Midweight Crew). Bugs ended up not being an issue at all. ) At first, the terrain is dominated by forest with numerous pocket meadows, but at 21 miles, the tree cover recedes revealing beautiful views up canyon toward the Great Western Divide and the craggy heights of Sawtooth Peak. No campfires at the following locations: Kaweah River Drainage. Pick up your permit from the Mineral King Ranger Station, either on the day before or the day of your hike. Timber Gap is a great rest spot with views of the Great Western Divide, flat ground, and shade. A sign near Monarch Lakes pointing the way to Sawtooth Pass was surrounded by snow, not a good omen. Glacier pass sawtooth pass + big five lakes hiking loop hike. High resolution USGS topographic map part 1 (pdf) and part 2 (pdf) and part 3 (pdf). A combination of us going too hard too fast, and our old age (lol, semi kidding) resulted in an unfortunate slew of hiking injuries. Either way, both are still exceptional eye candy.
Fast drying synthetic hiking pants (prAna Zion Pants). Forest in Lost Canyon - After navigating through the swampy upper meadows of Lost Canyon, the remainder of the day consisted of hiking through forest such as this until it brought me to another lake. Steep switchback after steep switchback, progress was slow and sometimes discouraging because the top was so, so far away. You could also hike a couple additional miles and camp at the larger lake.