Here we are again, in Mineral King. This was a short trip. The last time we were here this time of the year it was dumping snow on us. So we opted for a shorter trip, at slightly lower elevations. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the reservations had been made several months in advance. As long as we were outside, it was sure to be a great time. This was going to be the first "training hike" for a hike up Mt. Whitey later this summer.
We got to Cold Springs Campground in the evening and took a short walk through the Birch Tree forest.
From the campground that night, you could see Sawtooth peeking out, as always, taunting us.
The next morning we picked up our permit and headed to the trailhead. Today's hike would be about 10-12 miles, depending on how we feel: Starting at 6,500ft, climbing up to 8,400ft, then going down, down, down, through wayyyy too many overgrown spikey bushes....and some more down, to about 5,000ft or so to cross Cliff Creek. It was moving fairly quickly, but we managed to cross without falling in.
Look at that small pack! :)
We met two guys that had packs on the size of me, and neither had poles. One guy had on giant hiking boots, a cotton shirt, and was even wearing jeans (perhaps it was his first time backpacking?)! He looked MISERABLE. The other guy was carrying a large load, but he claimed to be an ex-marine who was "used to carrying" a heavy pack. The miserable guy asked, "How do you have such small packs???"We shared as much information as we could in 5 minutes. We mentioned things like a cook system made of cans, not bringing extra stuff like a change of clothes, or books, etc. I could see an extra pair of sneakers on his bag and a massive sleeping bag tied to the outside. I pointed those out and he got slightly defensive. Then they started bragging about the red meat they brought for dinner...it was useless trying to explain the concept of "what can you go without" to these guys. Clearly, it was his first time backpacking...and unfortunately, he looked like he might want it to be his last (if I were carrying 60 lbs I would have wanted it to be my last also). On (and up from here) we went...
Somewhere along the trail we came to a window in the trees and we could see across the valley...
We made camp somewhere near Bearpaw Meadow (7,200ft) right next to a river (not sure which one and I don't have my map handy). It quickly became one of my favorite spots we have camped so far. Falling asleep next to the sounds of the rushing river is so soothing. For some reason I can't find a picture of the river, just trust me that it's there behind me...
We got a little visitor that night. We had seen him earlier on the trail. He came back in the morning too. He seemed as annoyed at us as we were at him for not leaving the area. We had a little bit of a stare down. The ranger had warned us the bears were being frisky this year because of the low water/low foliage effect.
Those guys were supposedly going to be coming down the same trail, but we never saw them again. I wasn't feeling too good that night, and we decided for sure that I was a victim of altitude sickness. This would be the third trip that I have gotten sick on, and it's too coincidental to ignore. I'll spare the details, but it wasn't a fun night.
The original plan was to stay 2 nights, leaving our gear and just wondering around the next day, but instead we hiked out in the morning over Timber Gap (a different route than expected, that's why you always carry a map!). Mileage wise, we did the same, we just didn't stay two nights (And we weren't really stoked about going back the way we came because of the overgrown spikey bush patches that were hard to cross getting down into this valley).
We had been up over Timber Gap before and were familiar with it. It's a hard hike, but it's beautiful when you get the top out of the grove and feast your eyes on Mineral King Valley...
A successful trip, even if short. I've been reading all about this altitude sickness stuff, and things you can do to try and help it. This summer will be a trial and error process to get my body used to high altitude...especially if we want to hike Whintey in August. Let the experimenting and training begin...
Want to go farther, explore more, and be more comfortable? Go lightweight.
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