Mineral King Backpacking

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The crew

A group of four of us drove up from SLO to Mineral King Friday after work planning on an overnight backpacking trip to Monarch Lake. We camped Friday night at Cold Spring, then picked up permits the next morning and were hiking by 9 a.m. The ranger warned that marmot activity at the Sawtooth Pass trailhead was bad enough that we shouldn't even consider parking there unless we had a tarp or chicken wire to protect the underside of our vehicle. We heeded the warning and walked the extra 0.75 miles up the road. 

We got to the true trailhead around 9:15 and were at the junction with the "old" trail" about 45 minutes after that. In line with my normal route, I stopped to take pictures of the California Corn Lillies. Since this was Clarissa's first backpacking trip, we took the gentler route up the standard trail. Nick and I would descend the "old trail" on the way out the next day. The walk up the switchbacks was enjoyable and the weather looked pleasant. The forecast had called for a 20% chance of showers. 

Mineral Peak from Lower Monarch Lake

We got to Lower Monarch Lake around 11:30 a.m. and the clouds still didn't look too threatening. I decided I would eat a quick lunch then try to summit Needham Mountain by hiking up to Upper Monarch Lake then crossing over class 3 south ridge of Sawtooth Peak. I figured it would take me around 4 hours from camp. I invited Nick to join, and after a quick bite to eat we were off. 

We got to Upper Monarch Lake 10 minutes from the lower lake and gained the south ridge of Sawtooth 45 minutes from the lower lake. By that time clouds had started to roll in and I was getting a bit antsy. Nick's pace had slowed a bit, and I could tell that he may not make it all the way to Needham. We found a reasonable class 3 descent route off the ridgeline and headed toward the green patch below as described in Secor. Shortly after the class 3 stretch, Nick called it a day and said he'd sit and wait for me. 

Route to Needham

I figured I had about 45 minutes until I'd summit and clouds really started to roll in from the west. I moved as quickly as I could across the sandy terrain, but the storm eventually caught up to me. I started sprinkling as thunder began crashing every minute or so. I felt the hair on the back of my hand stand on end, and I decided to call it a day also. I was about 800' below the summit. I hurried back down to the green patch then up to where Nick was sitting below the class 3 entry point to Sawtooth's south ridge. By that time it really started coming down, and Nick and I re-climbed the class 3 setion in a full on hail storm. By the time we made it back to camp at Lower Monarch Lake, 4 hours after we had left, the storm was in full swing. Keenan and Clarissa were hiding in their tent. Nick ran off to his hammock and I climbed in my tent as fast as I could. Hail collected outside, and I built a moat to keep my tent from flooding. 

Climbing back up to the south ridge of Sawtooth in the rain.

Descending toward Upper Monarch Lake

Rainbow after dinner

The storm lasted for quite a while but finally cleared up around 6:00 p.m. We made quesadillas and enjoyed the sunset. 

View from camp at sunset

Heading up toward Sawtooth Pass at sunrise

I thought about getting up early to give Needham another shot the next morning but couldn't muster up the menal strength. I talked Keenan into hustling up Sawtooth Pass with me to catch the sunrise. We got up to the pass in about 45 minutes. 

Sawtooth Pass sunrise

Sawtooth Pass sunrise

Sawtooth Pass sunrise

Sawtooth Pass sunrise

It was well worth the effort as the lighting was perfect for pictures. We took photos for a half an hour or so then slid back down the pass, packed up camp and headed back for the car. Nick and I took the "old trail" while Keenan and Clarissa took the normal route. When we were within 5 minutes of the car Nick realized he didn't have his phone, so he headed back up the trail all the way to the junction between the old trail and the standard trail but didn't find it. He ended up getting it in the mail a few weeks later. Someone had found it, picked it up, guessed his unlock code and called his dad, who gave the person Nick's mailing address.