Backpacking the Sierras from Mineral King, Sequoia National Park




Driving the 25 mile, 1.5 hour road to mineral king - here's one of the huge trees the park is named for.  But we kept going, up past the sequoia groves.





Mineral King is a scenic, remote valley in the southern Sierra range.  This picture was taken on Sunday at the end of our 56 mile trek, but it shows the area we started out from.





Here's the trailhead we started from (elevation 7800ft), looking south up the Franklin Valley.





We started late in the day on a Monday - looking back down the valley, this shot shows visible sunlight coming over the hills, and waterfalls below.





Still climbing up toward the mountains at the head of the valley. 





Starting around 4:45pm, we saw 35 deer before stopping to set up camp.  They were surprisingly un-shy, and many walked through our camp that night.





Photographic multitasking:  Amanda, a deer, yellow flowers, mountains in shadow and in sun, moon. 





A couple more barely-concerned deer.





On Tuesday, we climbed up to alpine the Franklin Lakes...





...on our way up to 11700ft Franklin Pass, where I took this photo from within a maze of boulders.





On the other side of the pass, we dropped down into a little deer meadow ("mowed" regularly) and refilled our water bottles at the clear stream.





Wednesday morning, we descended with Rattlesnake Creek into hot and dry Kern Canyon.





At the bottom (6500ft), we cooled our feet in the stream.  That night we visited natural hot springs for a warmer soak.





Climbing out of Kern Canyon on Thursday, we saw a coyote, and later watched this lizard grab a fly that made the mistake of landing nearby.





"Sky Parlor Meadow" is a huge deer-grazed lawn with a mountainous backdrop.





We came back in the evening to watch them browse, but these deer were surprisingly skittish (perhaps a mountain lion nearby).





We camped at beautiful Moraine Lake (in time to shelter from a brief hail-storm), where reflected mountains in the water were interrupted only by some curious pink floating flowers.





The lake was warm enough for swimming.  As I sat in the water, this snake (Sierra garter?) swam directly behind me.





Hiking along the Chagoopa Plateau on Friday (Moraine Lake visible on the left), and looking down Big Arroyo.





Looking up Big Arroyo from the same spot.





This dead pine (left-center) shows a surprising (but common) spiral growth pattern.





Another striking dead tree, with sunlit and shaded mountains on the other side of Big Arroyo.





One of my favorite flowers of the great variety that grew along our path.





After crossing Big Arroyo at the upper end, we found a lakeside campsite.  Here, morning sun illuminated the cliff that towered over the water.





After leaving the lakes area Saturday morning, we started climbing Lost Canyon, eventually coming across this group of horses and mules.





At the top of the canyon, we started the really steep climbing.  Looking down canyon here, you can see the afternoon rain starting up somewhere (left).





That climb brought us to Columbine Lake (10900ft), where views extended to Black Rock Pass (right) - a striking contrast against the lighter mountains.  Nearby we stopped and cooked a snack of coconut ginger Thai noodles, and waited out a brief rain shower.





Then we started the really steep climbing up toward jagged Sawtooth Pass.  This colorful marmot was very cooperative in posing for the camera.





Looking back down on Columbine Lake, its granite bowl, and the mountains beyond... and the marmot (lower right, on a big rock).





Looking back from Sawtooth Pass (11600ft).  We were surprised how quickly and easily we did the climb (little food left, so the packs were light).





Amanda squints at the sun as we stand among the mountain-tops.





After a rough climb down from the pass, we camped at Lower Monarch Lake (shown here by evening light).





Sunset from near the lake - as the sun sank into the heavy layer of haze over the Central Valley, it turned pink and its shape began to warp.





At last, the sun hit a layer of haze so thick that it disappeared before it hit the hills.