Intro

After a great, but short trip at the beginning of September to our perennial favorite, Charlotte Lake, we couldn't get away anywhere for a while, and we were feeling antsy.

Then Marta got great news: she'll have a few days off right around Halloween. Where to go? Looking at the weather forecast, Mineral King made sense. For a while now, we've been thinking about going over Sawtooth Pass, and this seemed like a great opportunity. The days will be short, the nights will be cold, but we'll be OK.

Our trusted Big Agnes tent's main zipper fell apart at Charlotte Lake and the rainfly looked iffy as well. As always, Big Agnes provided great customer service and they replaced the entire tent to the latest version. There are some differences between this and our old one, but I don't want to go into an entire breakdown here. The most important thing: it's lighter by two ounces, even if it has a few new not-so-desirable features. Like with all new gear, we tried it at home, pitching to the tent in our living room to make sure we know what to do.

The trip plan was simple: let's do the popular Sawtooth Loop. Up to Monarch Lake, over Sawtooth Pass, down Lost Canyon and Soda Creek, to Forester Lake, over Franklin Pass and back. Three nights, one at Monarch Lakes, another at Little Claire or Forester, the last one at Franklin. No huge total mileage, maybe 28-30, but lots of elevation gain and loss.

To deal with the cold, we packed a small down blanket in addition to our regular sleeping bag, plus the winter mattresses (Thermarest XTherm).

As an extra luxury, I packed both my wide-angle (14mm) and telephoto (100-400mm) lenses.

Day 1 – L.A. to Mineral King, then to Lower Monarch Lake

It was Friday morning. All sorts of things delayed our departure and we only left L.A. around 8:30am. With traffic and the slow going on the Mineral King Road, it was past 1pm by the time we arrived at the Sawtooth Pass parking lot. At least nobody else was there.

Eating lunch, finishing the backpacks, wrapping the car in a tarp to protect it from marmots – this took another hour. We finally started walking up the trail a few minutes before 2:30pm. The weather was cool, with sunshine filtering through wispy cirrus clouds, which started thickening not much later.

The first few switchbacks ascend on the manzanita-covered hillside, with great views opening up towards the main Mineral King valley. This is prime bear-spotting country, over the years we've seen at least eight bruins here, but no matter how much we kept our eyes peeled, none materialized this time.

The trail passes by the junction to Timber Gap, then enters Monarch Creek's canyon, staying high above the creek for a while, then reaching a much wider bowl. According to some maps, there's an old, faint trail leading to the left (north-ish), climbing very steeply to Monarch Lake via a shorter route. The main trail goes right, crossing the creek, exiting the canyon. There wasn't much water there this time, but I've been told this crossing can be problematic early in the season.

Past the creek, the trail gains about 1,300' in two miles via long switchbacks to the Crystal Lake junction. Some stretches are among the trees, some among more manzanitas. We haven't been at elevation for almost two months, so we took it slow, taking quick breather breaks every now and then. About half a mile before the junction, a group of female grouse was pecking for their dinner in the underbrush. We managed not to spook them, but I didn't have time to switch to my long lens, so Em got a few great shots with her Sony MX100 MKVI extended all the way to 200mm.

Past the junction there are a few more switchbacks, then the trail reenters Monarch Creek's canyon, contouring high on the side. Between there and Lower Monarch Lake, there's very little elevation gain, it's easy going – unless there's snow. On our trip in May 2014, this is as far as we made it, the canyon wall was covered with frozen snow, making it dangerous enough for us to turn around.

No such problem this time. Twenty minutes later we arrived at Lower Monarch Lake, sitting on a small shelf of the canyon, Sawtooth Peak towering on the right, Mineral Peak on the left. The teardrop-shaped body of water is tiny, about 400' long and maybe 200' at its widest point.

To be honest, we were tired. Not so much from the distance we hiked, but from the previous days' efforts and then the elevation gain. The only decent places to pitch a tent are on the north-west shore. We selected a sandy spot for the tent with flat rocks nearby to put stuff out. However, we were hungry, so first we cooked soup and had few of Em's fantastic homemade cheese sticks while waiting for the soup to steep. It was a little bit breezy, but calming down by the minute. The lake and its shore were already in the shade, but the setting sun still lit up the mountainside nearby, so after eating, we walked to the edge of the shelf, looking down west into the canyon and all the way into the San Joaquin Valley. It was simply gorgeous.

Upper Monarch Lake, somewhat bigger then the lower, is one more shelf up, to the south-east. We briefly considered hiking up there, then decided against it. We were exhausted, and enjoying the last rays of the sun on the rocks was too nice.

We returned to the campsite right after sunset, took some more photos of the lake with the colorful clouds in the background, then pitched the tent before eating dinner. The temperature was dropping quickly, by 6:30pm it was down to about 30°F. At least the wind stopped almost completely.

After dinner, we walked west again for a look down, now the lights of the valley's towns and agricultural areas forming a tight, glimmering mosaic. It seemed so close and so far at the same time.

It was time to go to bed, but like most times, despite our best efforts, it took another while. Neither of us had altitude sickness, but first night's sleep at elevation is never OK after not having been there for a while. Em slept better – she almost always does – while I was tossing and turning, but got a few hours in. The night was cold, but not terribly so.

Day 2 – Lower Monarch Lake to Little Claire Lake

We woke up at 7am, but then cuddled some more and got out half an hour later. We were both groggy, and though we felt better after coffee, tea and trail-hummus for breakfast, we were even slower than usual. The sun hit our place around 9:15am, warming us nicely. It took us another thirty minutes, but we finally left.

The first few hundred yards towards the pass are an easy contour, then the climb begins. It's steep and loose, becoming steeper and looser. There's not one well-worn official trail, more like routes going every which way, but heading almost straight north, at least for a while. Some maps show a use trail almost straight up to the pass, but we stayed on the least steep (very steep vs. crazy steep) version, still keeping north.

It was very slow going, but fun. We always love these moonscape-like, arid mountainsides above the tree line. Actually, there's a lot of life there, if you keep your eyes open. Small shrubs, flowers, lichen, bugs, birds… In this particular place, the geology is stunning, the different peaks and mountainsides exhibiting countless varying colors depending on their mineral content. If I understand this correctly, several geological layers clash here, resulting in all sorts of deposits, and no wonder people found these, setting up all sorts of mines (though they were short-lived, most proved unprofitable quickly.)

The route took us to Glacier Pass, an unmarked pass between North Sawtooth Peak and Mineral Peak. Supposedly, there's a faint trail going down to Spring Lake, but as we weren't going that way, we didn't look for it.

The main trail skirts North Sawtooth Peak and slowly climbs to the pass. It looks like it's close. Well, it's not. From camp to Glacier Pass it took us an hour, and another half an hour from there to Sawtooth Pass. The total distance is less than two miles with a gain of cca. 1,500', but at that elevation with the loose sand underfoot, plus the shape we were in… I didn't want to believe when we crested the pass and I looked at my watch: it was 11:20am!

The pass is fantastic, though. To the east, guitar-shaped Columbine Lake is right below, and one can see all the way to the Sierra Crest, including Whitney and dozens of other peaks. On the other side, most of the San Joaquin Valley's width was visible, with the Coastal Range on the far side obscured by haze. Funny enough, we could see our car! Right down below, only 2 miles away in a beeline, about 4,000' lower, the parking lot was easy to make out, but the car was behind a bush, so we could only glimpse some of the tarp's color after zooming into the pictures later.

We sat down for a few minutes, ate a snack, then descended from the pass towards Columbine Lake. This side is steep, too, but with much better footing and the route is well marked by several large cairns. Approaching the lakeshore, there are several versions, all involving some minor rock-hopping, nothing difficult. Less than half an hour after departing from the pass, we were down by the water. Continuing to skirt the shore, proceeding north-east (to our left), we climbed up and down the rocks, trying to find the easiest route. The granite slabs had few markings, definitely no trail, but the direction was obvious enough, aided by small cairns.

Crossing the outlet was fun. The drain is a relatively deep, narrow channel with a simple down- and up-climb needed. The water was low, easily crossed by stepping on rocks, but I can imagine how much more difficult this could be when the melt is going on. However, taking into account that in such case you'd have to cross snow-covered Sawtooth Pass, this should be nothing compared to that.

Columbine Lake was gorgeous, its water the "usual" color of alpine lakes above the timberline, glowing the color of teal or almost cyan in the glaring white light of the sun. The trail picks up on the sandy shore past the north side of the outlet, climbing a small hump, beyond which Lost Canyon comes into view. Between the two barren mountainsides, there's a small meadow on the higher end of the canyon floor, tapering to a narrower strip of vegetation down below. Earlier in the year, all this is vibrant, but by this time, late October, everything turned shades of yellow, gold, and light brown, accented by the green of a few pine trees.

We agreed to have lunch down there by the creek, but the view was so gorgeous, we had to stop for photos every so often. Regardless, going down was so easy, 20 minutes later we reached the meadow, then soon found a great grassy area with some flat rocks. I filtered water and made a cup of electrolyte drink – with added caffeine – for sharing. Meanwhile, Em unpacked the food and cut up some smoked Hungarian-style sausage (ready to eat, very shelf-stable). It was a great afternoon, lounging in the warm sun, enjoying the food and drink. I wished it was a bit earlier in the day and we could spend some more time here, but daylight being so short, we had to move on. Especially that it was really, late: just past 2pm. Forester Lake was around 9.5 miles away, Little Claire about 1.5 miles less, and we had a bit over four hours of daylight left.

I can't say this enough, Lost Canyon is truly gorgeous. The contrast between the yellow and green plant life, rocks of many shades and color, the creek running in the middle, reflecting the deep blue of the cloudless sky… We had to hurry, but kept stopping for take it all in, both with our eyes and cameras.

The trail starts dropping more as it enters the forest, crossing the creek three times. The banks had icy patches in the shady spots, but the water was low enough for rock hops and one even had a log "bridge". There are great views into Big Arroyo as trail crosses small clearings in the forest, still dropping, contouring into Soda Creek Canyon, making an almost full u-turn, passing the junction of the spur doing down towards Big Arroyo. It was 3:45pm and the sign pointing up-canyon said "Little Claire Lake 4.9 miles". Actually, it's a bit less, but what the sign didn't say: it's about 2,000' in elevation gain. Well, let's go and try to make it before dark.

In these situations, Em truly shows her form. She's fast and relentless. The light was amazing, we were walking straight into the setting sun, but there was enough shade to make it pleasant. Of the almost-five miles, the first 3.5 miles or so are very easy, about half the elevation is gained then. We took one quick snack break and with that, made it to Soda Creek's crossing in a bit over 90 minutes. Here the trail turns sharply south and up. Quick side note: according to the map, continuing cross-country straight in the canyon leads to some really nice lakes further up, with a possibility to reach Amphitheater Lake and then Crystal Lake via unmarked Crystal Pass. We'd love to explore this area one day.

The final push lain ahead: 1,000' gain in somewhat over one mile, zigzagging like mad up the southern wall of Soda Creek Canyon. Sure, we were tired and it was steep, but all this was balanced by the view downcanyon, with bald Mt. Whitney and its companions peeking out from behind the trees, painted orange by the light of setting sun.

We made the climb to Little Claire Lake in about an hour, a commendable speed, given the circumstances. The sun had just set, the temperature dropping precipitously by the minute.

The trail crests by the outlet of the lake, crossing it, then contouring southward on the east side. We briefly considered hiking to that side, but then realized the near side will get sunlight much earlier in the morning, and without much effort, found a great tent spot close to the outlet, not far from the shore. The lake, still ruffled a bit a slight breeze, spread out before us. Fish were jumping, but trying to catch any of out of the question.

We were hungry and tired and it was getting dark (this last one being the least problem), so we did the usual routine: soup steeping while setting up the tent, then a quick two-course dinner, then to bed. It got completely dark by the time we finished with the tent and the thermometer showed 28°F, falling. The wind stopped completely and we enjoyed our dinner sitting on a big log, looking at the lake.

Then it was to bed. We knew it's going to be even colder than the night before, so we prepared accordingly, snuggling with the extra down blanket and using our down jackets as draft blockers. Also, we wore our down booties, a rarity.

I think this was the coldest night we've had so far in our backpacking career, but it wasn't bad at all. When we got up for a potty break around 3:30am (absolutely had to), the thermometer showed 18°F. Somewhat later, when I awakened, my nose –the only thing sticking out of the sleeping bag – told me it got even colder by 4-5 degrees, minimum. At least there was no wind. We were warm and toasty in our two-person, down-wrapped burrito, we just had to be careful how to move and toss and turn as not to let the heat out. I'm not saying it was the most comfortable night we've ever spent in a tent, but it wasn't bad.

Day 3 – Little Claire Lake to Franklin Lakes

After sleeping in a bit, we got out of the tent at 7:40am. Nobody else around, perfect quiet and stillness. The sun was already illuminating the rocks on the west side of the lake, approaching us. The chilly, but calm air felt liquid, almost as if you could sip it. It was another slow morning, eating breakfast, drinking tea, breaking down the tent.

The sun lit us up a bit after 9:30am, making us shed layers quickly. By this time, we were almost packed up, but several little things delayed us again. We even spent some time removing a long rope somebody left on a pine tree. It was the usual idiocy of trying to hang food, doing it improperly, then leaving the rope on the tree. Most of the time, these are completely out of reach, but here the upper end was relatively low and only hooked on a small protrusion, not tied to a branch. Em came up with the idea to open the 12' tenkara fishing rod and try to wiggle the rope's end off. Despite the tenkara's tip being very soft (and breakable,) it worked and we were happy to having removed another small piece of trash.

Finally, around 10:15am, we left, crossing the outlet and following the trail as it skirted the lake's eastern side. On the far side, I went down to the shore to take some more pictures, while also checking out tent sites. There are quite a few, I can imagine this getting crowded in the summer.

Past the lake, a little hump with nice views towards Rattlesnake Creek and the land beyond, then descending past a small meadow to Forester Lake. The western shore has a huge area suitable for camping, and I'm sure in the high season this is even worse than Little Claire Lake. However, we have fond memories of this place, having spent a great night here all by ourselves in June 2015 on our Big Five Lakes loop. We didn't linger this time, following the trail west.

This area between Forester Lake and Franklin Pass is one of my favorites in the Sierra, mostly for its diversity. It starts by the lake, in the forest, over a tiny hump and a slight loss in elevation to the junction of the Rattlesnake Canyon trail to the south. The main trail continues west, skirting a really cool meadow, almost a mile long. This is the upper end of Rattlesnake Creek, so let's call this meadow Upper Rattlesnake Meadow.

I left the trail, went down to the creek and took some shots with Florence Peak in the background. Gorgeous. Past the turnoff to Shotgun Pass, we decided it was time for lunch, so we sat down in the shade and ate quickly.

After another few hundred yards, the trail slowly turns away from the meadow, and eventually the serious climb starts with well-constructed switchbacks, leaving the tree line, ascending above the canyon, generally keeping north for a short while before turning all the way back east, making a huge half-circle. The view opens up more with each step and hard breath, and the landscape becomes almost completely barren. In need of a short break, we sat down on the rocks looking east, eating a snack, marveling in the sights.

Further up, the trail traverses more moonscape, climbing steadily. The view gets even better, with the Sierra Crest – including Whitney – visible. The trail turns sharply south, skirting Peak 11,973. At this point there's an opportunity to glance the upper reaches of Soda Creek and Rainbow Mountain, looking north via a small "window" (though nothing so impressive as the famous windows approaching Whitney.) We stopped for a few moments, scouting the layout of the land, again discussing a possible trip there.

From this point, the pass is a simple walk up the gentle slope. We crested the pass around 1:45pm. Unsurprisingly, it was somewhat windy and cold there, so we didn't linger long. Also, we kind of knew the campsites at Franklin Lakes are on the northern shore, looking south-west, but the low sun should dip behind the mountain early, so if we want to catch a bit of sunlight at camp, we better hurry.

Which we did. Going down from the pass is a great hike with some really long switchbacks descending around 1,500' in 2.6 miles. Even while pacing ourselves, we covered this in less than an hour, soon finding ourselves next to the lake, but high above it, looking for a way down. The shoreline is very rugged, with huge "steps", all sorts of cliffs and steep, bushy parts. I heard there's at least one bearproof storage box somewhere, and without looking for it, we found it. It's high up on a ledge, not very far form the water horizontally, but in a very impractical spot as far as water access goes. Maybe earlier in the season there's a stream running down to the lake nearby, but nothing of the sort of was visible this time of the year.

We wanted to camp by the lakeshore anyway, so we made our way further down, veering a back a bit towards the southern end of the lake. Here we found a great, sandy beach, oriented north-west, still in the full sun. Perfect (and somewhat too well-used) tent spots lay scattered among the bushes. The most protected one was obviously used by someone as a toilet (grrr #@*!), so we chose another one. Opposite, the sun was ready to dip behind the ridge, to the right of Tulare Peak, but we had another half an hour or more left.

weak, but persistent breeze was blowing from the direction of the Mineral King Valley, making the air chilly even in the sun. After settling down and a quick snack, we saw our spot will be in the shade soon, so it was time for a walk. Climbing up a bit on the steep shore, we found a flat rock still in the sun and sat down to relax a bit. As soon as that part got in the shade, we walked around some more, then back to camp to pick up the Tenkara rod. Venturing the other way on the lakeshore, I fished for a few minutes. Keeping and eating any of them didn't even cross our minds, I released the few I caught.

By this time, the sun set for good and it was getting dark quickly. The breeze had stopped completely, which was more than welcome, but sure it was cold. We kept moving to keep warm, arranging the inside of tent for the night, then walking around even while waiting for dinner to steep.

The waxing quarter moon illuminated the lake beautifully, so I took some long-exposure shots. It was only 7:30pm. We made sage-ginger tea, then walked around some more by moonlight. The temperature was dropping towards 25°;F, but at least the air stayed completely calm. Soon after, we cuddled up in bed. It was nice and toasty.

Day 4 – Franklin Lakes to Mineral and then L.A.

We woke up at 7:30am to temperatures around 15°;F. Again, wispy clouds covered part of the sky, and weak breeze stirred the lake a bit, but we were most in the lee of the rocks and bushes. Regardless, we retreated back into the tent for another ten minutes, then got out for good.

I don't know what happened that morning. Like I always say, we're glacially slow in the mornings. This was even worse. I have a photo of us breaking down the tent at 8:15am. Then we had breakfast, and finally the sun hit us, its warmth giving us some more energy. However, the timestamp of us walking away from the campsite says 9:53am! I have no idea how we futzed around for over an hour and a half.

Well, at least we were underway. Following the use trail towards the dam, I kept stopping to take shots of the lake sparkling in the morning sunshine. We'd have loved to stay another day, but alas, it was time to go home, finding our way back to the main trail. Right below the dam, there are some more campsites and a another bearproof box. Not the nicest of places, though.

Past the outlet, the trail follows Franklin Creek for a while before crossing it, then contours away from this canyon to the other side of the hill, entering Mineral King Valley, but going the exact opposite direction for a short while. It joins the trail to Farewell Gap, and from there it's four miles down to the parking lot. One highlight here is a big aspen grove, glowing in it's full golden glory this time of the year. The route itself is Easy, unless it's the thaw, when crossing Franklin and Crystal Creeks can be challenging, bordering on the impossible.

No such problems this time of the year though. About 90 minutes later we were down by the car. As it was Halloween, we quickly donned skeleton costumes, took some silly photos, then headed home. We haven't seen one single person on the entire trip, even down in Mineral King proper.

Outro

The week after, huge storms started rolling in, one of which eventually took out several sections of the Mineral King road and prevented access for an entire year. Next time we managed to go up there was in May 2024, and even then, we had to wait on the way up because of road closures.

Make sure to check out all the pictures in the full gallery.