Sawtooth Peak

October 9, 2005

Is it conceivable that I'd return to Mineral King and Sawtooth Peak again? My friend Jared had been thinking about the summit since our trip to Sawtooth Pass last year. I had been doing the same since I was chased away from the summit during a lightening storm in August this year. So all it took was for Jared to ask and next thing you know we made plans to leave my place at three-thirty in the morning for the unexciting drive to the trail head in Mineral King.

Trailhead greeting	Jared on the approach	First view of Sawtooth

After the usual and uneventful hike to Monarch Lakes, Jared and I contemplated our options. We had considered climbing Sawtooth by approaching the base from the Upper Monarch Lake instead of the sandy slope leading to Sawtooth Pass (an approach everyone despises). After some discussion we decided to use the sandy pass approach and consider the Upper Monarch Lake variation as a descent option instead.

Lower Monarch Lake	View above Upper Monarch Lake	Looking back at the lower sandy slog

The slope up to Sawtooth Pass is the damnest thing. There are many use trails, and if you grab the wrong one it rapidly becomes uphill misery. Unfortunately, we grabbed the wrong one and just made our way to the pass through persistence and misery.

Jared checks route on the slog-fest	Mineral Peak	Smoke blowing in from distant fire

We took a little break on the ridge next to the pass, snapped a couple of photos and talked about the wildfire burning to the north west that was obscuring the view. Before long we were on our feet traversing the west side of the ridge enroute to Sawtooth Peak. Here again there are use trails galore, some we used, some we made, either way it seemed much more arduous than others would have you believe (for example "we ran up to Sawtooth and tagged the summit" - yeah, right). Anyway, our route finding soon became boulder hopping across the ridge. We turned upward just before reaching the southern ridge, at roughly 11,300 ASL. From there is was a matter or persistence, a few class three moves to make the straightest line possible to the summit, and climbing onto the summit for some great views.

Classic view of Sawtooth from pass	Hanging at the pass	Approaching south ridge of Sawtooth

Jared was a champ and led the way during our ascent, providing words of encouragement to take my mind off of the bout of AMS I was fighting back. All of it was well worth it to enjoy the airy summit of 12,343' ASL. We snapped many photos, admired much scenery previously not observed, signed the register and took a nice break.

Jared on the summit	Yours truly	Register signing

Various Summit Photos
Click here to see a video from the summit

Amphitheatre Lake	Needham Mountain	The Kaweahs
Columbine Lake	East side of pass	Smoke to the west
Rainbow Mountain (background center)	View south-east	The Route Down

Since the days are short in October, we had agreed to a "turn around time" of four o'clock. We arrived at the summit just after four, so we knew that our exit would be partially in the dark - motivating us to hustle through our cross country descent and connect with the trail for our night time exit. It was at this time we decided to descend via the Upper Monarch Lake as a variation instead of passing over the same old turf.

Descent route	Enroute to the ridge between lakes	Looking over the ridge at Amphitheater

As we descended the south ridge of Sawtooth towards the Monarch lakes, we stopped and enjoyed a few extra views of Amphitheatre Lake from the ridge that divides the two lakes. As we descended closer to Upper Monarch Lake it became evident that the scramble downward was "larger" than earlier perceived. No problem though, Jared and I found our way over boulders, across more sand and down granite slabs eventually arriving on the south-east shoreline of the lake.

Descent to Upper Monarch lake	Jared on his way down from ridge	Slabs approaching lake

Upper Monarch Lake is about as pristine as a lake could possibly be. It is crystal clear (no moss for example), has beautiful sandy beaches, amazing peaks all around it, but a funny dam at the outlet. I don't know the history of the dam, but in the back country it sure looks out of place.

Upper Monarch Lake	Sandy beaches	Upper Monarch Dam

As the sun set behind Mineral Peak, Jared and I took our last brief break by refilling water and grabbing a quick snack. It was now time to exit downward to the smaller Lower Monarch Lake. We found a really nice use trail which starts at the north east side of the upper lake and proceeds easily to the lower lake. I suspect many fisherman use this path as it appeared well marked with cairns. As we arrived at the lower lake, our last stop was to grab our lights from our packs as it would be completely dark in a matter of minutes. We had a nice leisurely walk out, sometimes glimpsing the half lit moon through the trees. We arrived at the trailhead just before nine o'clock. We sure wouldn't set any speed record for summiting Sawtooth, but we both win big time for having a blast in the mountains and seeing some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere.

Shawn	Our route	Jared

The only regret I have is forgetting to take a photo of our memorial post hike hamburger feast that we enjoyed at In-N-Out in Visalia on the way home.