Day 1, 9/4 Monday. Onion Valley TH ‐ Kearsarge Lake.
Parking is only half full. Last day of the summer break. An outhouse. Garbage bins. Many bear boxes. No shade. A mule outfitter asked if we were coming or going. He said it was very cold last night. It turned out to be true.
We started hiking ~3:30pm. Elevatoin ~9000'.
Soon entered John Muir Wilderness. I was going slow, hiking here without acclimatization is tough for the sea level me.
Saw 2 grouse, 1 pika.
Beautiful view soon after the first lake: Gilbert. Creek to fill water. Good campsites. A side trail (small log bridge) branches to the left for Matlock Lake and more campsites.
Below Kearsarge Pass is Big Pothole Lake, still has icebergs floating on it. Very pretty.
Unfortunately it was in the shade.
The pass is fabulous. Beautiful views in front and behind. So many jagged peaks.
As almost always, the park boundary is here, and a sign for no pets, no fire arms.
I had a minor headache, so didn't linger here, need lower elevation.
Going down from the pass is very pretty looking at the chain of Kearsarge Lakes.
Coyote Mint's pink flowers dotted the rocky slope.
We got to the first lake ~7pm.
It has a large camp site, a bear box. Already a tent.
Continued to the 2nd lake. Pitched our tents.
I sauntered to the 3rd lake for a better view. Sun has set. Didn't have an appetite. Ate a bar. Around 8pm stars showed up. We stared at the sky till 9pm, went to bed before the moon rose. M.Y. claimed that it's the best night sky he's ever seen. He hates camping!
Day 2, 9/5, Tuesday. Kearsage Lake ‐ mid Sixty Lakes basin.
Up at 6am for sunrise. Not very good. Tent fly had ice on it. Waited for sun to dry everything before packing up. Got going ~8:45.
At Bullfrog Lake, met a large Korean group heading out.
Turned north on JMT, instead of my initial plan: on to Charlotte Lake, over Gardiner Pass to Gardiner Basin.
Because I read a trip report of last summer, claiming that the dotted trails were mostly gone, a lot of route finding and bushwacking. I don't have time for that this trip.
We met many JMT/PCT thru-hikers. 3 Japanese claimed their favorites are Morher Pass, Virginia Lake.
One more thru-hiker loved Virginia Lake.
On the way north to Glen Pass, after a couple of small ponds, there are 2 beautiful unamed lakes.
The lower one still has icebergs floating in it.
Between the 2 lakes has good water source. Quite some pink shooting stars lining the creek.
The south shore of the upper lake has some flat area, suitable for tents.
Going up to Glen Pass, the view of upper lake never disappears.
At 12000' Glen Pass has superior views both sides. We took a long break here.
Chatting with 2 PCT girls, one from Vermont, one from Colorado and is moving to Alaska next summer.
A chain of ponds just below, some with glacier color. Rae Lakes beyond don't look much from here.
There's a small section of hard snow. Some opted to go around (the 2 PCT girls on the photo, even though they carried ice axes).
We put on microspheres and went over the snow to minimize elevation gain. Not bad.
The view is lovely on the way down. The lingering snow made everything prettier.
At one creek crossing, I stopped to fill water. An older lady doing JMT alone was there resting, She's very slow.
As the elevation gets lower, the Rae Lakes looked better and larger.
At the upper Rae Lake (10600'), we took the 60 Lakes trail to the left. Another ~600' gain.
On the way, very nice view of the Rae Lakes, and the ponds.
Once leveled off (~11200'), a beautiful lake. I could happily camp here. But it's still early.
Soon we are going down to the basin. Here is an overview of what's lying ahead.
Crossing a large creek, the trail now going on the left (W) side of the creek.
More and more ponds and lakes. All picturesque.
Also more and more mosquitos.
Picked this prime spot for camp. I'm too tired to try scouting Gardiner Pass, let alone climbing Mt. Cotter, even though it was not yet 4pm.
Washed my shirt and socks. Laid them on trees to dry in the sun.
However, this basin is aligned northsouth, with high peaks both east and west.
Before I had a chance to take a photo, the sun was gone from us and the lake by 5pm!
My socks were semi-ok.
I left the wet shirt out which solidified the next morning (frozen)!
Cooked dinner. Watch the sun disappearing from the mountain tops. M.Y. was troubled by mosquitoes, ate his dinner inside his tent. I went to bed before it got all dark. Set alarm for 10pm for the stars, and a proper bio break without mosquitoes. The stars were again brilliant.
Day 3, 9/6, Wedesday. Sixty Lakes Basin ‐ crosscountry ‐ Upper Rae Lake
Again ice on tents. Waited for sun to dry it.
No hurry. We left at about the same time.
Continued down (N) of the basin. More lakes and ponds. All very pretty. Not a single human in sight.
I over-shot my turn, and had to double back. Picked our way over the creek and ponds, towards Basin Notch.
Fairly easy to get to a pass south of the notch. However it looks rather steep on the east side. Short scramble up the notch for a better view of the land. Spotted an easy downhill further south.
Walked around a butte to the pass south. Here, a visible track leading over and down to Rae Lakes valley.
It's so easy going, and we went too far down.
I should've checked my map sooner.
Now we had to scramble up.
Finally hit JMT, just north of Arrowhead Lake.
Very grassy along the river, in fact, we had to jump over rocks to cross the river, on trail.
Some little white flowers.
Quite pretty.
Arrowhead Lake, very big and pretty.
This pointy granite is Fin Dome.
Lower Rae Lake, is prettier.
Middle Rae Lake, closer to the high peaks around Glen Pass, is even prettier.
We made a long break at middle Rae Lake, which M.Y. claimed to be his favorite spot.
Passed a ranger station, on the east side of the trail (not sure if it can see the lake though).
More bear box at the main camping area.
The trail here mostly has a view of the lakes, also being on PCT, the trail is well maintained, so really nice walking.
We were walking fairly slowly, taking too many photos.
We couldn't find the trail junction to Dragon Lake. Walked back and forth.
Saw a faint path at this meadow near upper Rae Lake. Went over to it.
Stashed our backpacks behind some trees.
Packed a day pack with water, food, water filter and headlamp just in case, a jacket.
I put my bear-can out under a different clump of willows.
The trail is faint at times, a little scrambly. Nothing difficult.
Dragon Lake is super pretty. Mosquitos at lake shore.
I scrambled up its west slope, and took a long break, hiding behind a bigger rock for shade. M.Y. ate his late lunch (~2pm).
Back at the meadow. Found a guy in a mosquito head net painting. I went to take his photo. He asked me to snap a few on his phone too. He's staying from Monday till Sat. His pack is 70 ponds! He has an old external framed pack, a lot of painting materials + 6 days of food. He inquired about the trail to Dragon Lake, as he planned to paint there the next day. There's a limit of 2 nights at Rae Lakes, due to its popularity.
We picked up our backpacks, looked for a camp at the upper lake.
There's a more serious water crossing between these 2 lakes.
Still early. About 4pm. Too many bugs, so I hid in my tent reading.
Again, the sun disappeared from us at 5pm, even though the mountains were still lit.
Walked to the shore to cook dinner. Too many mosquitoes, M.Y. took his food to eat inside his tent.
After dinner, we walked around trying to take some sunset shots.
I set up an alarm at 10:30 tonight for stars, because the moon rises later and later every day.
Another brilliant night sky.
Day 4, 9/7, Thursday. Upper Rae Lake ‐ car.
Instead of camping another night at Gilbert Lake, we decided to hike out and stay in a motel. This will allow enough time for the next hike.
Still ice on the tent. We took off at 8am packing up wet tents.
Now repeating more or less what we've already hiked on, going south bound on JMT.
This is very pretty, so good to repeat.
Filled water half way up to Glen Pass.
I again took the snow with spikes. M.Y. chose to drop down on rocks and go around the snow.
Met 3 PCT thru hiker from Czech Republic, one guy wearing a pair of kids shorts full of yellow ducks.
A cheerful husband carrying a very large pack, his poor wife struggling behind.
One guy with the same Gossemer pack cut his foam pad in half, replacing his pack foam with half of the sleeping pad.
We turned east to Kearsarge Pass, higher than our trail in.
Looking down Bullfrog Lake is very different from standing next to it, equally beautiful.
M.Y. was running low on water. Only one creek about 1/4 mile west of the junction.
Filled water.
Met a couple from LA here, cutting short their JMT, because the snow slowed their progress, so they are running out of supply.
They asked for a ride, which I'm more than happy to offer. They also gave us a small bottle of bug spray that they found on trail.
The view over Kearsarge Pass is clearer today. A lot of people at the pass. Almost looked like a party.
We reached the car by 4pm. Picked up our food we from the bear box. My bananas looked very sad.
I offered the 2 better looking ones to the LA couple. The wife took one.
Rearranged the trunk. Managed to fit one of their packs in. The other one has to sit on their laps.
Chatted with them on the drive down. They liked Marie Lake, Lyll Canyon, Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite.
Dropped them off at Independence. 90F out. M.Y. was again feeling sick.
