Here we have a 16 mile round trip hike between “Mineral King” (approximate elevation: 8,000 feet)  and Franklin Pass (approximate elevation: 12,000 feet.)

Mineral King (now officially part of Sequoia National Park) is a sub alpine valley in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains accessible by road from the western slope via Visalia, California. The final 25 miles are a winding single lane road.  Indigenous peoples from both sides of the mountains used this area as a summer retreat. It was so named, optimistically – in the hopes that silver (in economically recoverable amounts) would be recovered here. That would not be the case. Along the road leading to Mineral King are many historical cabins tucked into the woods. Some of these woods contain Sequoias.

It was here, at the end of the road that Walt Disney endeavored to build his “Winter Disneyland”: a village and ski resort whose intention was to welcome two million visitors a year. Governor Regan promised to improve the road.

Alas, the terrible road was never improved nor was the resort ever built. Walt died and the Sierra Club sued. All that is left of Walt’s vision for Mineral King is the The Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland.

The most remarkable outcome of all this was that Mineral King was saved and someone spoke out for the trees – and it wasn’t The Lorax. It was Justice William O. Douglas.

Justice Douglas was the longest serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court – and he spoke for the trees. In his now famous dissenting argument (Sierra Club v. Morton), he spoke for the trees and much more.

“Inanimate objects are sometimes parties in litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found useful for maritime purposes. The corporation sole – a creature of ecclesiastical law – is an acceptable adversary and large fortunes ride on its cases….So it should be as respects valleys, alpine meadows, rivers, lakes, estuaries, beaches, ridges, groves of trees, swampland, or even air that feels the destructive pressures of modern technology and modern life. The river, for example, is the living symbol of all the life it sustains or nourishes – fish, aquatic insects, water ouzels, otter, fisher, deer, elk, bear, and all other animals, including man, who are dependent on it or who enjoy it for its sight, its sound, or its life. The river as plaintiff speaks for the ecological unit of life that is part of it.”

Mineral King is now considered hallowed ground by most hikers – as it should be. “Save The King!” was the cry, and the cry was heard.

On July 17th, I spent three nights here with my good friend The Neighbor. On the evening before our hike, as The Neighbor and I camped at the Mineral King campground – we met two kindred spirits and ended up hiking and camping with them over the next several days.

The hike to Franklin Lakes was perfect – a steady grade with well engineered switch backs, varied scenery, lots of water, some cloud cover and copious wildflowers. 

Our base camp was quite idyllic as well.

The day hike to the pass was easy going and revealed a stunning view – one that actually made me weak in the knees. I had to sit down. (It wasn’t the climb, it was the view!)

As I sat pondering what I was looking at (I could in fact see the summit of Mount Whitney,) I wondered who might be summiting that day. As it turned out, upon returning home from my trip I received a message from The Niece: she had been approaching Mount Whitney as we were admiring Franklin Pass!

A word about Lower Franklin Lake: I have never experienced such a multi faceted lake. Its mood and color were constantly changing. I found that if I looked away for five minutes, when my gaze returned to the lake it was a different lake! I then realized that I could just sit and watch the lake all day and never grow bored. When I awoke at night to answer the call of nature, the lake would be a perfect sheet of deep blue glass. It was an image of the universe framed in granite. Stunning.

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“Hiking Haiku” #2 

(Note: Hiking Haikus are not necessarily Haikus, but simply some lazy, free verse.)

Time: 7:35 pm

Date: July 19, 2022

Location: Lower Franklin Lake (Sequoia National Park)

“These Mountains”

Time spent with strangers – now friends.

A new place with new discoveries.

Rewards and well being to bring home with me tomorrow.

These mountains.