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The Scoop:
Video (2:48, 11.4M) --
(You might want to right-click and do "Save Target As..."
rather than try to watch it while it downloads... And there isn't
much sound to speak of, so don't waste your time trying to adjust
the sound.)
I (Shaun) decided to go on a little scouting mission, as Gypsy
had a couple of days off and wanted to stay home and enjoy some
solitude and one of her favorite pasttimes: reading. There were
some tentative plans for a camping trip with friends in the near
future, so I wanted to investigate Mineral King to see if we'd want
to take a group there, and if we didn't end up taking our group
there, to visit it again. I'd started a 3-night backpacking trip
there in about 1994 and had always wanted to go back. Well
worth it -- such a beautiful place.
Mineral King is in the southern part of Sequoia National Park,
and the only access is by way of a 1-lane, 20+ mile, winding mountain
road. It's a pretty arduous drive, but the reward of traveling from
the hot, sticky low hills, to the cool, thin air and Sequoias at
8000 feet takes your mind off it.
There are two campgrounds within 5 miles of the upper end of Mineral
King road, and I spent two nights at the one that parallels a rushing
creek: Cold Springs campground. Running water and pit toilets only,
but a small price to pay for such a great location -- (you can buy
showers at nearby Silver City). All of Mineral King consists of
a handful of locations: the pack station at the end of the road,
the ranger station (where you can buy all the maps you'll need),
Cold Springs campground, Silver City and Atwell Mill campground
-- all of these are within are 5 miles of each other. There are
lots of cabins and other things that I don't know about, but these
are the landmarks I know of. Silver City is handy, with its general
store, small restaurant, and showers -- at the end of a full day
of hiking, nothing beats a hot shower and a hamburger.
I went for an 11 mile hike from the Mineral King Pack Station up
to the Franklin Lakes (where I'd been backpacking in the past) and
back. Tough hike, but again, well worth it.
Also, a bear cub wandered to within 30 yards of my camp site --
gets the heart beating a little faster than usual. I encountered
very tame mule deer and eventually counted about 30 deer
(most near the pack station).
If you're interested in visiting Mineral King and want to more
details or anything, send me an email.
You can find info at www.nps.gov,
as well.
Gypsy and I spent 3 more nights at Mineral King a few weeks after
this scouting trip.
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