Mineral King: Black Rock Pass & Sawtooth Pass

Did you do the loop around big 5 and little 5 lakes?

I did Justin and then connected the Big Arroyo trail to the Lost Canyon trail up to Sawtooth Pass. That is truly some High Country!

Nice, Jay. I need to get down to that area soon. Looking forward to some more pictures.

Any issues with the altitude? Bugs?

Hey Chris, I definitely had some issues with altitude on the first day. Going up Black Rock Pass I was stopping every 10-15 minutes to rest and I mean really "REST" going up and over the last mile. The mosquitoes were there but not completely overwhelming. I used DEET and a head net and just walked fast. I think the lack of snow this year has truly impacted the mosquitoes numbers. I look forward to the SUL trip.

Nice trip Jay! When I hiked from Mineral King to Road's End, I recall that hike up Black Rock Pass as being a true slog. I was feeling a little funky, and that whole side of the pass was fully shrouded in fog. It felt like the switchbacks would never end. And then we got to the top, the mists disappeared, and the view east was huge. It's nice out there.

–B.R.–

MK:

Spring Lake

Five lakes

MLD Patrol Shelter w/ Yama Mountain Gear 1.25 Bug Shelter

Sawtooth Pass

Looks like a beautiful early season trip. Nice and green, little snow. Hard to beat.

Interested in the last photo… is that your marmot avoidance technique for trailhead parking? To keep them from chewing up hoses, etc?

Yes the last picture was recommended by the ranger. The marmots chew through hoses and drink anti-freeze but will not chew through a blue tarp? Go figure! I was very happy my car was in good condition after a long trek.

Thanks for posting Jay. The Glow photo is beautiful, classic high Sierra. It's interesting to see how little snow there is so early in the season.

Nice pics Jay. Looks like there is even less snow down south than up by Yosemite. Did you have to walk on any snow to get across the passes?

Andrew, I did walk through a "few" snow patches and that snow was very thin. Mineral King is definitely HIGH country and it was kind of alarming because of the lack of snow at two 11,600+ passes in June. Climate Change— Andrew how was Yosemite?

great pics Jay! This really has my juices flowing to visit this area….too many east side entries over the last few years have made me neglect this area

Great photos Jay, as usual. You gotta have one of the best collections of images, seriously. glad i found this report, snow will likely not be an issue for me next week.

Great pictures. I need to get out there. And speaking of marmots:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23550916/rescuers-hope-trap-marmot-san-francisco-and-return

Lost Canyon

Little Five Lakes

Thanks, Adan!

Apparently if you go past glacier pass and spring lake there is a chute of some sort on the tail end of the big 5 lakes basin that you can climb over. Or so I've heard. I could be wrong.
It would be a huge shortcut around lost canyon.