Sequoia National Park’s Mineral King area has a special allure. Reached via a windy, one-lane, 25-mile mining road, this is an area that you don’t just stumble upon. Getting there is a feat, and so too is backpacking in this region. That’s because there is no way to go but up up up from Mineral King’s verdant valley, at 7,500 ft, to the many peaks that dominate above. Luckily the scenic vistas provide ample fuel for any effort expended.
Mineral King’s story of annexation into Sequoia NP is a vivid and fairly recent demonstration of why wilderness protection should not be taken for granted. If not for the efforts of preservationists, many of the places we think of as nature’s cathedrals could just as easily have been developed, and this fate is palpable at Mineral King. Here we are reminded that the American West could have gone the way of open spaces in the eastern part of the country or even Europe — interstitial natural spaces punctuated by frequent “improvements” and developed areas.
An idyllic and desirable destination, in the middle of the twentieth century Mineral King seemed to be on the path to be developed into a Disney resort. Plans were drawn. Investors were secured. Permits were in the process of being procured. But the Sierra Club didn’t think it was a good idea to pave paradise and put up a parking lot, and they proceeded to find many ways of being an irritating thorn on Disney’s side. After a lengthy struggle, Disney eventually abandoned the project, (un)paving the way for Mineral King’s annexation into the park in the 1970s and guaranteeing its protection in perpetuity.
View from the switchbacks near Timber Gap/Sawtooth Pass trailhead. The wispy cloud on the left is smoke from the KNP Complex fire.
Today the threats to Mineral King come in a form different than corporations seeking to develop. We nearly cancelled trip our trip here for a second year in a row due to fire, as peak season to explore the Sierra keeps getting pushed earlier and earlier due to a drying, warming climate. The KNP Complex fire was already burning when we started our hike, prompting us to change our itinerary the morning we started the hike. Ultimately, this fire would burn nearly 90,000 acres in the area.
Our loop started at the Timber Gap trailhead. We hiked clockwise, camping near Pinto Lake the first night, and near Lost Canyon on the second . Along the way, we encountered many deer that gave us the opportunity to grow our Attenborough-inspired series about Sierra critters with the latest installment, The Deer Diaries…
Days: 3 (Aug. 29 - Sept. 1, 2021)
Mileage: 32 mi
Elevation Low/High: Sawtooth/Timber trailhead 7,800'; Sawtooth Pass 11,558’
Total Elevation Loss/Gain: 9,708’
Camp locations: Pinto Lake, Lost Canyon
