Good question, Jeff. I’ve updated the itinerary section of the trip planner at the bottom of this story to include info about water along that section of the hike, which you can read when logged into your account as a subscriber to The Big Outside.

Have a great trip! That’s a beautiful hike and you’re going at a perfect time of summer.

Hey Timothy,

Thanks for the nice words about my blog. Plan months in advance for a JMT hike. I can give you a personalized trip plan for it. See my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how I can help you plan your trip.

Hi Michael,

Thanks for sharing those great details about your trip, very helpful to all readers. I’m glad your timing was as good as it was, allowing you to enjoy clear skies and still get out of there safely. I’ve had experiences of squeezing in a trip right before a wildfire blew up, too. And a friend and I got in a really nice, four-day hike in Yosemite in September between waves of smoke from High Sierra fires.

Keep in touch!

Rangers were not allowing camping at Columbine Lake for at least the season due to previous issues of lack of cat hole opportunities. The climb up to Precipice Lake is a real grind and all parties on our route elected to do it in the morning rather than the end of the day. Precipice and Columbine in the clear morning light were indeed among the best backcountry views I have seen, with Precipice being especially unworldly.

We elected to spend the first night in Redwood Meadow, which is dry and requires hauling water the last 2 miles or so but is worth it given the pleasures of having the entire site to ourselves at the base of massive Sequoias. Just about everybody we talked to on the trail/in camp agreed the hike was more strenuous than we expected, but was doable and certainly well worth the effort. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to you, Michael, for putting it on our radar and giving an excellent description. A couple on our same schedule used your detailed services and were very pleased with those as well.

Hi Kerrie,

Yes, I think you would encounter substantial snow cover in the second half of June at these high elevations, making it difficult to hike and follow the trail at times, and possibly hazardous. Creeks could be high and dangerous. I understand the Sierra has had a low-snowfall winter, so there may be places below 8,000 feet where you could hike mostly snow-free by then; but in a normal year, it’s mid-July before higher elevations are snow-free, and you’re looking at dates a few weeks early.

I’ve been asked by other readers to help them find a Sierra trip they could take in late June. Getting a permit this close to your dates is difficult, too. But if you’re interested, see my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how I can help you plan your trip.

Thanks for the good question.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the nice words. It’s a great trip. As you know, I’d be happy to help with planning it. See my Custom Trip Planning page.

See also my picks for “The 10 Best Backpacking Packs.” When my kids were younger and couldn’t carry their share of gear and food, I often used the Gregory Baltoro. But I would also recommend a close look at the Osprey Atmos AG series and the Arc’teryx Bora AR series. I don’t think 85 liters is absolutely necessary, unless you’re hauling a really huge load, but if you’re carrying a large share of the family load, you probably want at least 75 liters.

Good luck and keep your back strong!

Great article! Do you have any recommendation on packs for a family hauler? I saw you mentioned yours was 85 liters. Do you feel that’s a good size for a small-medium sized family? Any brand or model recommendations?

My wife is pregnant and I’d like to get a larger pack to take some of the strain off her when we backpack while she’s pregnant and then use that for years to come with kid(s) in tow!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for that report, Jason, and congrats. That’s a full-value hike in four days at those elevations. You had the same impression I did when I backpacked it with my family: It’s an incredibly scenic trip. I also felt the desire to go back and explore Nine Lakes Basin and Kaweah Basin more, and I’ll make a note about your recommendation on Tamarack Lake. I’m eager to hear where you’re planning to hike next!

Michael

Just made it back! Another spectacular trip in the Sierras. Did this over four days, which required a good amount of miles each day. As you say, this is probably done best over 5 or 6 days. Everyone starting over Timber Gap with me was doing the same amount of days but was instead doing Blackrock Pass/Sawtooth Pass loop! Ended up camping at Hamilton instead of Precipice b/c I added in a side trip to Tamarack Lake so was too tired to make the late afternoon ascent to Precipice. Tamarack is a beautiful spot if you haven’t been. Camping at Hamilton was spectacular! Also camped in Big Five Lakes basin, another gorgeous spot. Would love to do another trip in which I explore Nine Lakes Basin and Kaweah Basin (cross-country). Lastly, loved Lost Canyon & Columbine Lake area. Overall, some of the best scenery I have seen in the Sierras. Thanks for all your help; your write-up was extremely helpful with the planning!

You’re welcome, Jason, and as always, thanks for asking some good questions.

Good stuff Michael. Really appreciate the feedback!

Hi Jason, enjoy it, great trip. I did not explore whether Spring or Cyclamen lakes could be reached by hiking off-trail from Columbine Lake or Black Rock Pass; there may be cliffs barring access, or there may be a route, depending on skills and personal comfort level, of course. Yes, it’s a very big day from Precipice Lake to Columbine Lake; we had an intermediate campsite in between those two nights. I think Precipice and Columbine are the two nicest campsites on this trip; that’s why they both made my list of 25 favorite backcountry campsites. So I would camp at both, but only if it fits into your daily hiking-distance capacity. When we were there, camping was prohibited around the Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp; the only option was the Bearpaw Meadow backpackers campground, which is in the trees, lacking views, and kind of dusty, but fine. Good luck!

Hey Michael, will be doing this trek this week. Super excited! Have done some research and have a few questions: Spring Lake looks like an awesome spot. Can you reach Spring and Cyclamen Lakes from the Columbine Lake area or can you realistically only reach it from the Black rock pass side? If the latter, may save that area for a future Mineral King Trip… Would really love to camp at Columbine Lake but if I were to do that my third day would be real long (camping at Precipice Lake night two) and my fourth (last) day would be quite short. Mileage wise, it would make more sense to camp somewhere at Big Five Lakes or Little Five Lakes. I am sure there are great spots to camp there too but wanted your thoughts on whether you would extend that third day just to camp at Columbine. Looks sick. Lastly, trying to decide where to camp that first night. Little Bearpaw Meadow or Bearpaw Meadow HSC area. Thoughts? Thanks so much in advance!

Great question, Jason. Yes, hiking clockwise is much better. As I mentioned in the Concerns section at the bottom of the story, the descent from Sawtooth Pass to Monarch Lakes is a long, steep slope of loose scree with no real trail. It’s difficult going down, and poles help a lot, but if you’re fairly comfortable on scree (sliding a bit on your heels, leaning backward so that, if you fall, it’s on your butt rather than forward), it can go relatively quickly. But we saw people going up it, and that looked extremely slow and tedious: one step up, half step slide back down. Not to mention that I’d rather do this on the last day of the trip, with a lighter pack going downhill, than on the first day with the trip’s heaviest pack weight going uphill.

Have a great trip. It’s beautiful.

Hi Daniel, read the Make It Happen section at the bottom of the story (above these comments), the Sawtooth Trailhead is a short distance before the end of Mineral King Road. You can’t miss it. You’ll see on the map that you climb 0.6 mile from the trailhead to a fork in the trail; to the left is Timber Gap (the direction we hiked), to the right are Monarch Lakes and Sawtooth Pass.

Have fun.

Hi Michael, thanks for following my blog, I hope you subscribe (see box at bottom of the story, above these comments). You’ll love this hike. But be forewarned: The ascent to Sawtooth Pass is off-trail, steep, and loose above Monarch Lakes. Try to find any user trail you can and the lowest-angle route, and plan on it being slow and laborious. Better to do it as early as possible, for cooler temps. Descending from Sawtooth Pass to Columbine Lake is much easier.

The loop is nearly 40 miles, so to extend it to 45 miles doesn’t add much distance. If you have the time, I would suggest just exploring off-trail up into the Nine Lake Basin, maybe camping at one of the upper lakes; it looks nice from Kaweah Gap. Or take the short side hike from Little Five Lakes to Black Rock Pass (as I did early one morning), or hike in to the Big Five Lakes.

Good luck.

Hello Lucrecia:

We found out that the map doesn’t tell the whole story. The elevation gains and losses plus the altitude makes the trip challenging. We were averaging 1 mile/hr and were grown men. The ranger also told us the distances on the map are wrong and the trail signs shows the distances a bit further. As for shortening the trip to 3 nights/4 days, you’ll find the last day to be a real bear if you go through Black Rock Pass from Little Five Lakes back to Mineral King Trailhead. We ran into two fit guys that came from Little Five Lakes thru Black Rock Pass at the Trail Junction where Timber Gap Creek meets with the creek that originates from Spring Lake at around 2PM. These guys still have to climb another 2500 ft and over 4 miles back to the trailhead. Suggest extending the time rather than shortening it so that trip will be more enjoyable rather than a death march.

Thanks for those details, Noel. I do remember Granite Creek and those campsites, nice spot, actually. I love sleeping by running water.

Hey Noel, Aaron, Matt and Mike, I’m delighted you guys had a good time. Tough but beautiful hike.

Good Morning Fred:

We just did the trip this July. There is no water source at Redwood Meadow. The ranger will tell you that too when you get your permit. The next water source is Granite Creek which is no more than 30min away with moderate elevation gain/loss. Highly recommended getting to Granite Creek as early as you can. There are 3 campsites where you are more than 25′ from the water and one that is questionable. If you don’t mind the thundering water of Granite Creek while you are sleeping, its as good as any campsite that is near flowing water and there are some swimming holes as well.

I salute your kids for accomplishing such an epic feat. It was more than a walk in the park.
-Noel

Thanks, Fred. We also backpacked this route in August. Of course, water sources can vary from year to year, but I don’t recall there being any water in or near the Redwood Meadow Grove. Cliff Creek, which you cross about three miles southeast of the grove, had a strong flow, and I think some of those tributary creeks you cross between Cliff Creek and the grove had water, but I can’t say for certain what you’ll find. I believe we got our next water from the creeks reached within 30 minutes or so beyond the grove. I’d carry enough water to the grove to get through the night. It would be a nice place to camp. Good luck.

Hi Lucretia, thanks. Look at a map and you’ll see that you can shorten this loop by returning via Black Rock Pass instead of Sawtooth Pass (which, in addition to being longer, is a hard, off-trail descent). I have calculated how much you’ll reduce the total distance by, but I believe it would be shorter. You’ll need a good topo map to compare, but look at this online map and you’ll get an overview of the area: https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/upload/SEKImap1_MapoftheParks-2.pdf. You can also hike a loop over Black Rock Pass to Sawtooth Pass that’s clearly shorter.

Good luck, it’s a beautiful hike.

Hi Cathy, early September is an ideal time of year in the High Sierra. See the Make It Happen section at the bottom of the story, which refers to the Tom Harrison map covering this area. Have fun.

My Dad is a naturalist and was a backcountry ranger back in the day and definitely inspired a love of exploring the outdoors in me. He was mostly stationed at Crabtree, but has a special fondness for Mineral King and the area you covered on your trip.

As I planned our trip the Mineral King bug he put in my ear caused my attention to keep coming back to this area. None of the trips I read about in our backpacking books were quite right so I began collaging together a trip based on snippets I read in these books, my own reading of the area maps and what I thought we could comfortably do in 6 days. As usual, when I can’t find quite what I’m looking for, I turned to Google and the Internet hive-mind. I was delighted to find your post! It shaped up and confirmed that the trip I had been imagining was the right one.

It was such a great trip I’d need to write my own blog post to properly describe it!

We followed your itinerary closely, however chose to do a bit of cross-country travel on the 5th day. Instead of staying at Columbine Lake, we decided to stay at lower Spring Lake via Black Rock Pass from Little 5 Lakes exiting over Glacier Pass the last day.

We also almost shied away from the area because our books urged travelers to be in ‘top shape’. We didn’t feel in top shape at the time, but when I found your post I was confident we could do it if a Dad carrying a 60lb. pack and his kids could do it. Your family and a 10yr old girl we met on our trip gives us hope that we will be exploring the backcountry with our own family sooner than we might have thought.

We met the amazing Isabella at Precipice Lake as the sun rose. We were just waking up when she and her Dad arrived having hiked up from Hamilton Lake starting at 4am. They had hiked the tunnel and scariest parts of the trail in the dark! It was Isabella’s first backpacking trip and she carried her fair share of the gear. Precipice was the pinnacle of their trip and sadly the reflective, clear emerald waters were asleep without light on the lake yet.

Thanks again for your adventurous blog – keep up the good work! Just donated!

Thanks Dan, have a great hike.

Thanks, I’m glad you found my website. Get in touch anytime.

Damn. That was easy. 🙂

EXCELLENT job with this. The perfect blend of trail info and descriptions. Really appreciate it.

I’ll be visiting Tom Harrison tomorrow.

Hi Marty, info about permits and the map are in the Make It Happen section above. You only need one permit.

Also do you have a map of this trip, i can’t seem to retrace your steps and i plan on doing almost the same trip next week!

Hey Brian and Laurie, good to hear from you again. What a great story. I’m delighted you made the trip and had such an adventure, and that my story was helpful to you. Yes, my kids are troopers. Get in touch anytime.

The first four days, one to acclimate and day hike, and three on the trail, experienced beautiful weather. The ranger gave us a forecast that the weather might deteriorate the last three days of the trip and that we would need to make a decision about holding up in Lost Canyon or pushing over Sawtooth to Monarch Lake to avoid exposure at Columbine Lake. Rain, Thunderstorms and hail started at Little Five Lakes so, after sheltering under a large boulder, we decided to lengthen Day 4 and push on to the first Big Five Lake. After a wet night the weather cleared and we started for Columbine. We had spitting rain on and off but the weather held. That is, until we reached the banks of Columbine. Rain, hail and the summit shrouded in fog obscured the trail to the summit. We sheltered and waited for a window. When we saw one we started up. Half way to Sawtooth Pass the thunderstorm returned. We sheltered again and waited. Another window and we gave it everything we had. We couldn’t linger at Sawtooth and so pushed on and completed the loop on Day 5. On the descent we passed a large conifer totally engulfed in flames from a lightning strike. Exhausted but happily safe at our marmot-proof rental car we made our way back down Mineral King Road as night fell. We have a truckload of pictures and a host of new memories to share with family and friends.

All in all it was a beautiful trip. I thought of your children at the most challenging points. They must be real troopers to make those trips. Not easy.

Thank you for your knowledgeable articles and guidance for us all. We deeply appreciate it.

Thanks, Nate, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, afternoons were hot, nights got down into the 40s or 30s, and mornings are comfortably cool and ideal for hiking, all of which is typical of the High Sierra in July and August. Good luck with your trip.

Thanks!

Awesome! Definitely need a couple of these to make me feel better about hiking in ‘Big Kitty’ territory of central Cali with children

Hi Katrina, glad you enjoyed this story. Keep up hiking with your young kids and they’ll become great backpackers. We did carry bear canisters but I only carry pepper spray in grizzly country (and there are only black bears in the High Sierra). However, I suspect a lightweight air horn is a good deterrent, although I have not had occasion to test that theory. The one I like is this: http://www.falconsignal.com/shop/sound-911-horn.