Vitamin and Mineral King
(A Wet Weekend in Sequoia National Park)

1-2 Oct 2010 - by Aaron Schuman

On October 2, 2010, we climbed Mineral Peak, but we washed off our primary destination, Needham Mountain. Our group was Chris Prendergast, Alex Sapozhnikov, Dara Hazeghi, Sassan Hazeghi, Mike Murphy, Ken Feltrop, co-leader Judy Molland, and yours truly, trip leader Aaron Schuman.

There was a forecast of "slight chance of showers", but as we hiked in from Mineral King to Crystal Lake, the weather worsened. After we dropped our packs at the lake, half of the team decided to scout Amphitheater Pass. As we were cutting through the cliff band, we were caught by hail. My frigid hands clung to the wet granite like a pair of starfish.

After a drippy night, the sky lightened but the sun didn't rise. There was a break in the weather, so we made the dash up to Mineral Peak. It was Mike's first Sierra Nevada summit. He deserves congratulations for capably and confidently reaching this class-2 destination.

As we were hiking down the trail in the rain, we met a party hiking uphill. They were spelunkers heading for Crystal Cave. The weather is always the same when your sport happens underground. We passed them by the old Chihuahua silver mine; they scoffed at the idea of entering a hole that had been dug by human hands.

On our hike we encountered many deer. There was still plenty of browse for them. Gooseberries and currents were abundant in Mineral King. In addition to the deer, we also met a sage grouse and a frisky young bear.

The trip photo, by Dara Hazeghi, tells the whole story of our wet weekend at Mineral Peak and Crystal Lake.

Mineral_Peak_and_Crystal_Lake


To file a trip report, please fill in the Report Entry form or contact the webmaster.