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Rae Lakes Loop

Posted on July 17, 2008 by: Traveler

  • Upper Rae Lake below the Painted Lady
  • The swollen Kings River still meant snow up high
  • From Bailey Bridge, two miles in, looking down the Kings River
  • Rock steps blasted into granite along trail
  • Mist Fall was getting my camera lens wet from about 300 ft. away
  • On top of Mist Fall with storm clouds brewing
  • Sign at beginning of Lower Paradise Valley
  • Gently flowing water means minimal uphill.
  • Day 2 started with a log crossing over the Kings River.
  • Trail dropping into Castle Domes Meadow.
  • The trail becomes part of the John Muir Trail just after Castle Domes Meadow. You will follow the JMT all the way through Rae Lakes and into Vidette Meadow.
  • Bridge crossing over Woods Creek.
  • It's 3:00 pm, time for some thundershowers!
  • Little rest break below 10,000 ft.
  • 10,000 ft. sign marker.
  • Trail along edge of Dollar Lake. I didn't want to break out the camera at Arrowhead Lake because it was raining so damn hard!
  • Dead snag highlighted (somehow) before the torrential downpour began.
  • Fin Dome as seen upon our arrival at Lower Rae Lake. We set up the tent and jammed inside without even eating.
  • Just a bit different view in the morning after an all night downpour.
  • Lower Rae Lake with Painted Lady in center of skyline.
  • Heading to Middle Rae Lake.
  • Middle Rae Lake with Painted Lady in center of skyline.
  • Me being dwarfed by the Painted Lady (12,119 ft.).
  • Run off from the Sixty-Lake Basin. Following the peak down, Glen Pass (11,978 ft.) is the first patch of snow.
  • One step foward...
  • Still frozen, and unnamed lake below Glen Pass.
  • Top of Glen Pass looking to other side... all downhill from here! Well, sort of.
  • Frozen (unnamed) lake on the way to Charlotte Lake.
  • Trail passing Charlotte Lake (10,370 ft.). There is a Ranger Station and camping along the northwestern shoreline.
  • East Vidette (13,350 ft.) looming over it's namesake meadow.
  • Vidette Meadow with East Vidette visible through the trees.
  • Bubbs Creek flowing down to Juction Meadow. The canyon of East Creek branches off to the left.
  • Campsite above Bubbs Creek.
  • Bubbs Creek.
  • Bridge at Sphinx Junction heading up to Avalanche Pass. We wanted no more uphill!
  • Full circle BABY! Now we just have to make it down to Bailey Bridge. Then we have to go two more miles...
  • Jeff contemplating the quick way down.
  • Bubbs Creek's final tumble before merging with the South Fork Kings River at Bailey Bridge.
  • Bailey Bridge; two more sandy trail miles left. Woo Hoo!

Closest City: Visalia
State: California
Country: United States

Located in Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Rae Lakes Loop is an approximately 49 (ish) mile trail. After making the commitment to get back up in the mountains, Jeff (My Poor Feet) and I had to figure out where to go. Naturally, the Sierras were our first choice. I had just read an article in National Geographic's TRAVELER about the Rae Lakes Loop. The trail was given such a short excerpt that I honestly was not expecting much. Starting at Road's End, we walked over to Baily Bridge (the first and last two miles are the same) and decided to head up Paradise Valley for a counter-clockwise loop. After crossing the log bridge on morning two, it was all uphill to Lower Rae Lake. Now, I'm skipping a couple of things here...  like the fact that when Jeff and I checked out the trail conditions at the Ranger kiosk, we learned that Glen Pass (above Rae Lakes) was still over 50% snow. In July??? I wasn't too happy about not having crampons at that prospect but we weren't gonna turn around. And the thunderstorms were like clockwork. It seemed like when 3:00pm rolled around, the sky opened up. The rain became a relief though because it kept the mosquitoes at bay. So on the second day, at lower Rae Lake, we could barely see Fin Dome looming overhead and barely had enough time to set up the tent and dive in to avoid the all night storm at 10,500 ft. That following morning was absolutely gorgeous though. Not a grey cloud to be seen, we had an easy stroll up to the snowline. A couple crossings (and one fall up to my waist) and we were looking down the opposite side. All downhill from there.

We were going to spend the night at Vidette Meadow, like we did on our 83 miler, but there were way too many skeeters and tents already set up. Apparently, for a price, you can pay to have a mule carry everyrthing into the backcountry (14 miles to be specific). This HUGE party had paid to have all their gear, coolers (with steaks and BEER), and a lot more creture comforts than I had experienced for the past three days, up to Vidette Meadow. They were using the location as a base camp and branching out in every direction only to return for a tasty meal. I guess they saw how pathetic we looked because some very nice ladies offered us a beer. We graciously accepted but had to move on. Down to Junction Meadow we went. We set up my REI Half Dome 2 above Bubbs Creek (check out the gear review on it to see the campsite), cooked some Lipton noodle packets with chicken chunks and enjoyed our drink. The final mornig followed Bubbs Creek down to where it merges with the Kings River. It was nice rounding that swithchback just above the valley where we could look in both directions and see straight up to Paradise Valley and know that we made a giant loop around. One regret is not taking a swim under Bailey Bridge to cool off... but really, it was still two miles to the car at Roads End. Rae Lakes is a location I would return to again. Big mountain vistas, tons of water, and plenty of lakes to catch a Rainbow Trout (we did not get permits) make the Rae Lakes a backpacker's MUST Do list.   

To see the video footage of this trip, go to my profile page and click on the link to my YouTube account. Hope you enjoy!   

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Fly Fishing, Freshwater Fishing, Backpacking, Hiking, Long Distance Trekking, Mountaineering, Snowshoeing, Camping, Photography

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Rae Lakes Loop, Kings Canyon, Bubbs Creek, Vidette Meadow, Glen Pass, Painted Lady, John Muir Trail

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