Mineral King Valley – Paradise in California!

We were off to the Sequioa National Park over the Labor Day weekend. Initially we were debating between the Redwoods Park and Sequioas, but a search through online forums indicated that Sequioa was probably better for site seeing and/or hikes, and a quick look at the map showed Redwood as a tiny blip compared to the Sequioas. Although we were initially debating over camping on one of the many campsites at Sequioa, the idea of sleeping out in hot scorching 100F, which was the weather forecast for the park for the next few days, didn’t quite sound very adventurous to me. And we decided to be safe and have the option of cooling ourselves off when we needed it. Once again we scrambled with last minute bookings and managed to get an efficiency cottage at Three Rivers. The town of Three Rivers is the gateway to Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks and is located just where the foothills of the park begin. It is also the nearest place to most Sequioa attractions (about an hr of drive) if you are coming from south entrance to park and would rather have non-hotel accommodations with a private bath and/or cooking facilities. The foothills of Sequioa are an eyesore due to all the vegetation being dry/parched by end of summer, and thus living in Three Rivers means driving up and back to the park attractions every day; however, the daytime hour long drive in itself is not too bad with wide divided roads, although it is mountain driving all the same.

The first two days we covered the usual Sequioa attractions: Crystal Caves, Sherman Tree, Moro Rock, Crescent Meadows – each one of these attractions unique in their own way, although the Sequoia trees are something else. On Day 1, after a guided tour of Crystal Caves, which was amazing and a relief from the scorching temperatures above (almost 100F), we ventured into the Giant Grove, area of the park which is known for the giant trees. Standing in front of the majestic Sequoia trees, you do indeed feel tiny like ant in front of such a large living thing. Photo above is with us standing in front of the General Sherman tree, the largest tree by volume. We then had a forest ranger drop and give us a detailed story of the history of the park and a fascinating account of what it takes for a Sequioa tree to reach this kind of majestic size – it is a long fight for survival of the fitest over thousands of years.

Following our fill of the giant Sequioa trees on the first day, on Day 2 we first covered Moro Rock, climbing 400 steep steps to reach the top of the granite rock to get an unparalleled view of much of the park – I had never been more scared of heights climbing up the steps. Even though there were guard-rails and wide steps, I was almost kneeling down while climbing to avoid looking down the steep drops. We then decided to explore some short hikes and found the trails by Crescent Meadows, a lovely grassy small open area surrounded by trees, to be particularly beautiful. As we stopped by one of the spots to eat our lunch, it was as if time had stopped. I would highly recommend taking one of the short trails around Crescent Meadows if one were to make a trip to Sequioas. There are a couple of other meadows too nearby and the trails lead you through some of the cabins built hundred years ago. Some of the more beautiful places in Sequioa can only be discovered by hiking along one of the many high Sierra trails with some even gaining 2000-3000 ft elevation. We saw plenty of hardcore hikers on their way through the trails, some on their way to Mt. Whitney, which at 14000 ft, is the highest mountain in the contiguous US. I certainly admire their spirit and sense of adventure, but not sure if that kind of adventure appeals to me (it used to once upon a time) anymore partly because of the level of fitness and ability to carry enough food/supplies to last 2 weeks in the wilderness! On my very first day, a mere 400 ft ascent up a small trail left me gasping/panting for life.

The reason I started writing this blog post was not to ramble about the majestic trees at Sequioa, but about Mineral King, a subalpine valley about 2 hours drive from Three Rivers and also a part of Sequioa National Park – it is an off the beaten track literally! On the third day of our stay, we decided to check out Mineral Valley, which was roughly a 7000 feet climb up the mountain. We started driving into the windy roads with hairpin curves, unpaved roads, blind turns and drop offs with thousands of feet with no guardrails to stop from tumbling down. The road was wide enough to hold only one moving car and if we met another vehicle, one of us had to stop and make space or backup to let the other car pass by in order to get past each other. Few minutes into the road leading up, I started having second thoughts about making the trip… we were driving at the rate of 10-12 miles/hr and had about 24 more miles to go… that meant two and half hrs of sitting tightly in the car holding on to yourself in case some mad driver from the opposite direction came too close or too fast. However, we decided to continue as who knew when we’d have a chance or inclination to check it out again. As we reached half way, we gained more confidence and it was too late to turn back.

After 2.5 hrs of treacherous drive, the reward was beyond beautiful!! It was well worth the drive!! You really have to go there to know what I am talking about – a gorgeous scenery that seemed pristine and untouched. Tourist traffic to this place is quite low due to the difficulty of reach, and also perhaps because there are no commercial hotel type accommodations. Our first stop was at the store/shop at Silver City resort, the only cottages within Mineral Valley which have electricity and running water. We took a quick break and checked around the area a little bit – it was quiet, serene/peaceful and much cooler due to the higher altitudes (7600 ft). There were no Sequioas or very few Sequioaa in this part of the park, but mostly alpine trees. It didn’t feel like we were at Sequoia anymore, where it was quite dry and hot.

A couple of miles ahead of Silver City led to the end of the road to Mineral King, which is a valley at an elevation of 7800 ft. Besides a smattering of cabins nestled amongst the shade of trees, there was not a single soul around. There is nothing to see here except nature. There are several lakes at higher elevations which can be hiked up to within a day by the experienced hikers. And thus this place might primarily appeal to hikers and backpackers. Mineral King is only open from Memorial Day weekend through early fall which can be through October, and is quite a bit of drive (almost 3.5 hrs) from most of the popular Sequoia attractions, and thus really is a destination in itself. Also, there are almost no facilities in Mineral King. The small restaurant/general store at Silver City Resort, is the only place open during weekends. The only other thing in Mineral King besides the Silver City resort is a small visitor center, two camp grounds and some private cabins in the valley. So, if you don’t get checked into one of the cabin homes at Silver City Resort, you will have to rent one of the primitive cabins (without running water or electricity) or camp/hike outside. There nothing there to entertain the casual windshield tourist but some gorgeous out of the world scenery. If all this doesn’t deter you, then maybe you should give it a visit.