Sawtooth Peak / Needham Mountain / Vandever Mountain / Florence Peak
Ascents of Sawtooth Peak (Northwest Ridge from Sawtooth Pass, class 2), Needham Mountain (Traverse from Sawtooth Peak, class 2-3), Vandever Mountain (From Farewell Gap, class 1), and Florence Peak (Southwest Slope, class 3), July 24-25, 2025
Timeline:
July 23, 2025. Drive to Mineral King. I had one more week before the family returned from France, and planned to climb eight more peaks as solo dayhikes in that period. The first phase consisted of four peaks in the Mineral King area, a trip I had long planned, but never had a chance to complete. I left LA after lunch and drove to the Cold Springs campground, where I had booked a campsite for three nights. The last part of the drive took a while, because the Mineral King road is very windy, and in bad shape after the damage caused by the heavy snows of the winter of 2023. I got there in time for dinner, and then settled for a comfortable night in the back of my 4Runner.
July 24, 2025. Ascents of Sawtooth Peak and Needham Mountain. I woke up early, had breakfast, and drove to the Sawtooth Pass trailhead. Most of the cars parked there were wrapped to protect their underbellies from marmots, but a ranger had told me that this is not necessary for dayhikes past the middle of July, so I did not bother. I set out at 6:28 and made good time up the excellent trail past Monarch Lakes (where I met a couple of parties of backpackers) and on to Sawtooth Pass (9:24). I then scrambled up to the summit of Sawtooth Peak (10:39), where I found no register. There were magnificent views of the Kaweah Range, of the Whitney crest and of the Mineral King area. I then proceeded to traverse to Needham Mountain, dropping to the 11,500 feet level to bypass some towers on the ridge. The sand climb up to Needham from there was tedious, but quite short. I soon got to the class 3 summit rocks, at 13:13. I could not really figure out which was the highest point (there are two main candidates, both steep class 3 pinnacles), so I climbed all the apparent highpoints. I stayed a good while and had lunch on the summit, and then hiked down the sandy southwest slope of Needham to rejoin Amphitheater Lake, a magnificent spot. There was some class 3 terrain over Crystal Pass, to gain Crystal Lake, my return route. I traversed into the pass from the right, which kept the difficulty at class 2+. It was 15:42 when I reached the pass, and descended toward Crystal Lake, another glacial lake lined with steep granite cliffs on its southern side. There, I rejoined a trail at the lake outlet, and could pick up the pace to the trailhead. The weather had turned cloudy in the afternoon, and the temps were quite cool as I descended. I reached the parking lot at 18:17 and returned to my campsite at Cold Springs for dinner and some rest. (11:52 hours elapsed, 10:22 hours moving, 14.51 miles, 6,288 feet of elevation gain)
July 25, 2025. Ascents of Vandever Mountain and Florence Peak. This was a fantastic day of mountaineering. I left the trailhead for the Farewell Gap trail at 6:38, and went at a decent pace on the initial portion of the hike, reaching Farewell Gap at 9:08. From there it was a quick hike up the class 1 East Slope to the summit Vandever Mountain (10:19). From the summit, one could see Homer's Nose, North Maggie Mountain and Moses Mountain, peaks seldom seen from other High Sierra peaks. To the west, Florence Peak looked quite sharp and impressive. This was my next destination. I had read that traversing straight from Farewell Gap involved a lot of ups and downs, so I took the more conventional route via Bullfrog Lake. It was all on trail till the lower lake, then easy cross-country to the upper lake, which I reached at 13:18. This is a gorgeous area. From upper Bullfrog Lake, the Southwest Slope of Florence Peak comes into full view, and offers several options. The middle portion has some 3rd class cliffs, and the left side offers access to the West Ridge of the peak (also 3rd class). I could not quite decide, so I made my own way in between these two options, managed to overcome the cliffs and gain the ridge a short distance west of the summit (several moves of stiff class 3 climbing were encountered here, though perhaps avoidable with some more careful route finding). I reached the top at 15:07, as clouds were gathering over the Great Western Divide and the Kaweah range. This made the scenery quite dramatic. I stayed a while on this fantastic summit, and by the end of my stay the clouds had started enveloping the immediate surroundings. Upwinds moved them laterally in a circular pattern (the stuff of thunderstorms) but I had never seen this process so upclose. Ultimately, I started my descent down the class 2 Northeast Ridge of Florence Peak, toward Franklin Pass (on this descent it is important to stick to the left on the crest of the ridge in order not to get drawn down toward Rattlesnake Creek, which would require reascending to Franklin Pass from the East). Soon, I had rejoined the trail where it descends toward Franklin Lake (not exactly at Franklin Pass). There, I saw a hiker who was waiting for his companion. We exchanged a few words. I told him I had just come down from Florence Peak and he asked me if there was a trail to the summit, expressing surprise when I said there wasn't (I later passed his companion further down the trail; he was huffing and puffing heavily). I hiked a short distance to Franklin Pass proper to see what it was like (16:25), and then returned to descend toward the lake along the trail. The clouds now surrounded Florence Peak's steep Northwest Face, and sank as low as the lake itself, making for great pictures. The wildflowers in the vicinity of the lake were another highlight of this great day, and later on the trail I saw a young male deer up close - he did not seem in the least concerned by my presence. From Franklin Pass the nine downhill miles to the trailhead went by quickly. I was back at the car at 19:21. I returned to the campground for a third night there, but my neighbors were very noisy that evening and I did not sleep well. (12:43 hours elapsed, 11:18 hours moving, 19.67 miles, 6,756 feet of elevation gain)
July 26, 2025. Drive to Mammoth Lakes. I left around 7:30, and drove back to Visalia. From there I had two options to reach Mammoth - north through Yosemite or south through Lake Isabella. These options are roughly equivalent time and mileage-wise, but I did not have a Yosemite entrance reservation, and this being a Saturday in the middle of July, I did not want to risk getting turned back. So south I went, through the less scenic route. I was in Mammoth by mid-afternoon, to enjoy two nights of rest (and some editorial work) before heading to Lake Tahoe for some more peaks.
Trip Totals: 24:35 hours elapsed, 21:40 hours moving, 34.18 miles, 13,044 feet of elevation gain.