Franklin Lakes Adventure
August 19-20, 2006
Summary: Matt, Lars, Harry, Harry's friend Matt, and I went up to Franklin Lakes in Sequoia National Park near Mineral King for a quick overnighter...a bachelor trip / celebration if you will. We lugged a 12 pack of MGDs up there, a Vanderburg backpacking first! It was fun, the company was great, the beer was cold, the weather was perfect, and the area lived up to the Sierra's reputation. Smoke from a nearby wildfire made things a bit hazy at times, but it never got as bad as the McNally Fire did when Harry and I backpacked Evolution Valley. Note: The photos are all different sizes because I resized these photos over the course of a month, and I never checked to see if I was being consistent when resizing. Oh well, I may fix it later, or then again, I might not. Enjoy!
The gang (Matt, Matt, Harry, Lars, and Steve) heading up toward Farwell Gap.
The hills were still surprisingly green given that it was late August in the souther Sierra.
Lars and Harry before the big climb up to Franklin Lakes.
Lars and Harry make their way through the smoke over the "grassy knoll."
Franklin Canyon.
Farwell Gap... Farewell because beyond that pass, the Sierra turns to crap in a hurry. Look at the map and remember this rap: stay north of the Gap or prepare to nap!
Downed Tree in Farewell Canyon.
View down Farewell Canyon toward Mineral King.
The leaf of the onion plant... makes great TP :)
View down Farewell Canyon toward Mineral King.
Wildflowers along the trail to Franklin Lakes near Mineral King.
Matt and Lars take a rest at the trail junction for Farewell Gap and Franklin Lakes.
More bright, late-season flowers below Franklin Lakes.
Lars pulls his camera out for a few shots down meadow.
Plants and things.
Matt takes a breather on his first ever backpacking trip.
A cool tree. Notice the haze in the background... as we later found out, there was a wildfire burning on the otherside of the ridge less than a couple miles from us. The smoke and haze would make for some horrible photo ops the following morning.
Franklin Lake at sunset. You can see some of the smoke above the ridge, but at this point the fire wasn't too bad.
Colorful peaks surround Franklin Lakes.
Harry's friend Matt at sunset near Franklin Lake.
The next morning we were treated to smokey skies and ash fall. At times, the smoke would get so thick, it would completely obscure our view across the lake.
Matt descends from camp. The smoke in the background nearly obscures the peaks.
One last smokey view across Franklin Lakes before bidding farewell.
Wierd lizard / salamander thing. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I've never seen one of those guys before.
White Chief Peak from the trailhead.
Mineral King from the parking lot. After a nice overnighter, it was time to head home.