After our High Sierra Camp loop hike in Yosemite last summer, we immediately made plans to return this year, expecting to do a shorter trip with one night at Glen Aulin followed by two at May Lake (with a Mt. Hoffman summit hike planned for Day 3). We did the whole lottery thing, being rejected on our first try but working out the identical itinerary with reservations agents on the phone after the lottery ended – not sure why we just didn’t get the dates in the first place. No matter, since the whole High Sierra Camp season got canceled in June due to so much snow. We had planned to take Chris’ cousin Cynthia and Jane’s cousin Jean on the trip, and, since everyone had that weekend free on their calendars, we started looking around for alternate destinations. One place that has been on our radar for a while is the Sequoia High Sierra Camp, basically a high-end but rustic hotel located on forest land just outside of and between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We looked online and, behold, they had openings for the third weekend in July, so we booked it – in the end, Jean couldn’t make the trip, so we ended up being just a threesome. The camp (or SHSC) is located about 3/4-mile east of the Marvin Pass trailhead, itself located some 12 road miles and 45 minutes east of General’s Highway, and requires a one-mile walk from the trailhead parking area to the camp – no drive-ups. Since our check-in wasn’t until 4pm, we thought we’d get to the trailhead by mid-morning, hike above Marvin Pass to the top of Mitchell Peak (elev. 10,365′), and then descend back below the pass to the lateral trail that would take us into camp by late afternoon. After 4+ hours of driving, including a couple of stops to get sandwiches in Tulare and a pair of sunglasses for Jane in Grant Grove, we finally reached the 3-mile-long dirt road leading from the paved Big Meadows Road up to the trailhead at 8,400′, where we found a few cars here ahead of us but plenty of space available in the large parking area. It took a few minutes to get going, as we had brought extra clothes and such to last the weekend, and we didn’t want to carry all that with us the whole way today – we figured we should repack and go with light loads initially, and then we could all return to the Jeep and get the rest of the stuff before heading to the SHSC. So, off we went shortly after 11am, or, rather, up we went, as the trail climbs steeply up the slope directly above the trailhead – well, at least it felt steep. After a couple of hundred yards, the grade moderated significantly, and we found ourselves on a gentle-to-moderate ascent the rest of the way to Marvin Pass – we passed the SHSC lateral trail junction just before crossing a creek and gaining more elevation along a series of small but very pretty meadows, the trail steepening a bit through a set of switchbacks just before reaching the ridgeline at 1-1/2 miles in. At about 9,100′, the pass is well-forested and offered limited views, and we found ourselves here discussing various options on where to go next. The Marvin Pass trail continues south for another mile with a 200′ drop to Rowell Meadow, while the route to Mitchell Peak heads east from the pass another 2 miles with over 1,200′ of gain to the summit – Jane and Cynthia favored the meadow while Chris wanted to do the peak, and he was worried that they might lose their way without GPS or map. Chris insisted they at least take the InReach communicator to send for help if they got into trouble, but they preferred he take it since he was solo and they weren’t – probably a sensible decision that Chris was less than comfortable with nonetheless. So, we parted ways, the girls heading south while Chris headed east, agreeing to meet back at Marvin Pass. Jane and Cynthia made their way down the ridge, crossing Rowell Creek and following its drainage south to a junction, where they initially turned southeast around the eastern end of the large meadows they could see through the trees beyond – however, after about half a mile, they realized they were trending away from the meadows and starting to climb again, so they turned around, retracing their steps past the junction and on to open views over Rowell Meadow further west. After an extended break for lunch, they explored a little further west down the trail before returning to the junction and hiking back northward to the pass. Meanwhile, Chris had walked eastward from the pass about 3/4-mile up the Kanawyer Gap trail on a mostly-gentle gradient and soon reached its junction with the Mitchell Peak trail. From here, he hiked north up a steep and very warm slope to a saddle on Mitchell Peak’s west ridge, after which was another half-mile on a gentle traverse of the mountain’s northwest face. He climbed more steeply again up the north shoulder of the peak before emerging from the treeline alongside a large snowfield lingering to the north below the summit rocks – there was a British family of four here already, having come up from the SHSC where they, too, were staying, and Chris made his way to the summit block ahead of them. Situated some 12 miles west of the Great Western Divide, Mitchell Peak offers an unparalleled 360-degree view over the entire area, which was what attracted Chris here in the first place – unfortunately, smoke from the Detwiler Fire near Yosemite cast a thick haze over the scene that detracted from the experience. Still, it was quite stirring to see north to Mt. Goddard, east to Mt. Brewer, and south to Alta and Silliman Peaks (below which we had backpacked last summer) – what was most amazing was being able to see all the way northeastward to the Palisades, nearly 30 miles away. Chris was still quite nervous about the girls being on their own, so after a series of photos from the summit, he headed back down, eating his sandwich as he walked across the snowfield and back into the lodgepole forest – the trail was very faint here before disappearing altogether, and a check of the GPS revealed he was about 100 yards off-course. Maybe Chris needed all the route-finding gear more than Jane did after all, and he was able to find the trail again after walking further northwest down the slope. He made much better time coming off the mountain, although his knees paid a significant price in the end – as he reached Marvin Pass, there were Jane and Cynthia, having arrived just a couple of minutes before. We walked together down the north side of the ridge, pausing at the SHSC junction and deciding Chris would retrieve the rest of our stuff from the car while the girls waited there (hmmm). After an easy walk down and a much-less-easy walk back up, especially with what felt like 100 lbs on his back, Chris returned to the junction where the British family were chatting now with Jane and Cynthia, and we all made our way eastward from there together, hiking for about about half a mile through beautiful marshes and meadows and into the camp itself, some 5 hours after starting out that morning. Definitely more upscale than the High Sierra Camps of Yosemite, the tent cabins at the SHSC are furnished with comfortable mattresses, Pendleton wool blankets, Navajo rugs on the floor, and well-cushioned chairs in each. Cynthia had a tent with twin beds all to herself while ours had both a king bed and a twin, and we enjoyed a delicious gourmet dinner served on china after a hot, outdoor shower. Pretty cool. The sunset was very pretty, the smoke out over the San Joaquin Valley adding filtering layers that changed the orange light to shades of crimson and purple. Quiet time in the camp is at 10pm, but everything quieted down shortly after sunset, the night air cooling into the high 40s at 8,600′. A great day.