|
Today would be one of the shortest hikes of the trip, as we were
planning to meet up with our resupply friends (Neil and Jon) at Rae Lakes. I
had intentionally planned to make this a short day, in order to
arrive at Rae Lakes earlier in the day. We'd been here before
on the Rae Lakes Loop (14 years ago) and knew we wanted to re-visit it.
We took our sweet time getting ready in the morning. By the time
we left, at 9:35am, I joked that Neil and Jon were going to
beat us there. They were starting at Onion Valley, a 12 mile trek
over two passes, but there was also the chance that they would
start a day earlier and camp at Kearsarge Lakes or Charlotte Lake.
It was mostly sunny and warm when we left camp. Despite the fact that today's
distance was short, we still had to climb over 2100 feet. The climbing
started immediately, but it was steady, not steep at all. It was
fairly consistent all the way up to the lakes.
Looking back toward Woods Creek junction
We played leap frog with a large group of hikers. The group included a man and
his 12 year old son (his two younger brothers "didn't make the cut"). They
were on a 10-day trip, doing the Rae Lakes Loop with some extra side trips.
They asked us about our trip. At one point the man asked me if we had any
planned "zero days" (days without hiking, or at least camping in the same
place). I told him "*This* is our zero day." Really, because of the fact
that we could only carry up to 8 days (7 nights) worth of food, we couldn't afford any
true zero days.
After climbing and crossing a few streams, we took our one break of the day at 11am.
We enjoyed the dehydrated granola
with blueberries and milk that we'd picked up from a hiker a few days ago.
We continued climbing up to and past some pretty pine trees. Much of the trail
looked familiar, but parts of it didn't; it's amazing how much you forget
in 14 years.
Looking back down from the climb
Foxtail pines
Foxtail pine
Foxtail pines
We passed the 10,000 foot sign, where the other group was resting. They
weren't nearly as acclimatized as we were, of course, and they made
note of that. We kept going. At
12pm, I turned on our radio as planned. I checked to see if Neil and Jon
were on the radio yet, but not surprisingly didn't get a response. We
passed Dollar Lake, where lots of people were enjoying the lake,
some jumping into and swimming in it.
Dollar Lake
Fin Dome over Dollar Lake
Dollar Lake
We next came to one of my favorite stretches of trail, where a stream
courses through a meadow, with views of Fin Dome ahead. I think I took
some of the same pictures this year that I had 14 years ago. Also, when
we'd come through here last time a ranger had checked our permit.
True to form, we ran into the Rae Lakes ranger here. He didn't asked
to see our permit, though. I asked him about the weather, and he said
there was a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon, and it should be clearing
tomorrow.
Fin Dome over stream between Dollar Lake and Arrowhead Lake
Fin Dome over stream between Dollar Lake and Arrowhead Lake
Stream between Dollar Lake and Arrowhead Lake
Fin Dome over stream between Dollar Lake and Arrowhead Lake
At 1pm, the radio crackled on. It was Neil and Jon, and they were already
at Rae Lakes. They had beaten us! I'd find out that they had started
yesterday, camping at a lake just before Glen Pass, then going over
the pass and to Rae Lakes today. We were at Arrowhead Lake, about a mile
from the first Rae Lake and about two miles from where they were.
We were excited that everything was coming together, that all our planning
was working out.
Arrowhead Lake
Arrowhead Lake
We continued on to the first lake, but we were still quite a ways from our
camping spot (and a lot of it still slightly uphill). We passed the ranger
station, then came to the sign for the bear box at 2pm. At this point we saw
Neil and Jon up on a hill nearby and went up to them. They'd found one
small campsite up there. We started looking for more. Eventually I found
a site closer to the water that was big enough for all of us. And in fact,
it was very close to the same site we'd used 14 years ago (it was now
occupied). Nearby we had great views of the Painted Lady to the south
and Fin Dome to the northwest.
Painted Lady and first Rae Lake
Painted Lady over middle Rae Lake
Painted Lady over middle Rae Lake
Fin Dome over middle Rae Lake
There were lots of people camping at Rae Lakes, including apparently a Boy Scout
troop near the bear box. But there were still plenty of sites.
We met Patrick, who was from Michigan, doing the latter part of the JMT.
He had a similar remaining schedule to ours (Center Basin creek crossing,
Tyndall Creek, Guitar Lake). Originally I had planned to camp at Upper
Vidette Meadow tomorrow, but after checking out the map,
I would end up changing my mind and camping
near the Center Basin creek crossing, as well.
Arriving in camp at 2pm, for once we had time to relax. I kind of wanted
to jump into the lake like Neil and Jon did, but it was now
cold and overcast, and it started to rain lightly. The rain came and went and
was mostly just an inconvenience, but I never did jump in the lake.
Jon and Neil had carried about 20 pounds of our food, fuel, and other supplies.
They also brought their own food, which they shared with us. Nathan gobbled
up several tortillas. They'd even gotten my email message (sent from MTR)
to bring corn nuts (our kids' newfound snack of choice). We transferred all our
food into our bear canisters, and gave them all our trash to carry. While
I'm sure they couldn't have been happy with the contents of their canisters
now, they had to be happy with the weight trade-off.
After witnessing an epic sunset here 14 years ago, I was hopeful that we'd get
more of the same, especially with the storm clouds still lingering. Unfortunately
it didn't clear up enough and the sunset was a bust. Still, we were happy
to be with friends, have our final resupply, and be camping at a beautiful lake.
Fin Dome sunset
Fin Dome over middle Rae Lake
During the night I woke up around 2am and was happy to see the clouds
were mostly gone. The moon was still almost full, and I was happy
to take some pictures during the night.
Stars over Fin Dome and Rae Lake
Stars over Fin Dome and Rae Lake
Night sky over Painted Lady silhouette
Campsite at night
| 
Facebook Fan Page
Twitter
RSS Feed
