TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

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B.Kruger
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TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by B.Kruger »

Same old start here: left Vegas at 4am on Thursday (July 5), watched the sunrise in Death Valley, swung by the Lone Pine visitor center to pick up my permit (yes, by drawing a random number and waiting for my turn, as always), and was at the trailhead and heading out by 9:30 am. I set out with the intent to do a 4-day loop that also traveled through 60-lakes and Gardiner basins, but after conditions I encountered on the way down from Dragon Pass, and given the forecast for thunderstorms on Saturday, I decided to just loop out via Glen/Kearsarge on the second day to log some family time over the weekend.

I started up the trail toward Kearsarge and quickly turned onto the Golden Tout Lakes trail, which I found to be as steep and rocky as reported. The trail does become a bit faint in various areas of rock and tree fall, but with some careful looking one can keep the trail just fine. The views on the way up were fantastic, and the meadow just below the lake basins was shockingly gorgeous. I can’t believe I didn’t realize this setting existed just a few miles from onion valley. After crossing to the meadow’s north side, I was able to pick up the use trail heading up to the northern most lake basin. I made my way to the upper most lake (just below Dragon Peak), passing through little meadows of wildflowers the whole way. A few mosquitoes came to say hello, but they were easily deterred.
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If there’s anything I’ve learned in the Sierra it’s that, for me at least, cross-country routes are always less intimidating up close than they appear from afar. I tried to keep that in mind as I had lunch by the lake and studied what might be the best route up the steep-looking scree. That mantra luckily also held true in this instance, and after circling around the lake and starting to climb in a patch of grass I could tell the angle would be more manageable that it seemed. I did find more leftover snow that expected, which had been hidden by a rise in the landscape, but it was still in good condition and made for much faster travel upward. I was very glad I had packed slip-on spikes.
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At the top of the snow the scree angle increased, but the path of least resistance to the top was fairly obvious. I had read plenty of reports of people’s approach to climb Dragon Peak, so I knew to shoot for the lowest white stripe on the rock headwall above the scree. There, sure enough, was a very obvious chute upward and to the right leading toward the ridgeline. At the top of the chute, a steeper section with an awkward chockstone leads to the right and is the route toward the summit. I had considered scrambling up to the summit, but realizing that I’d have to come back down that chockstone slot to pass a large gendarme and gain the ridge again on its other side, I decided to instead head left first, to gain the main ridge between Dragon and Gould, drop my pack, and scout the route down the other side to see what I was getting into. I should make it clear that while there isn’t much distance between you and the ridge-proper here, I found the moves to be solidly 4th class with lots of exposure. Not to mention you’re at something like 12,400’ by this point. Please travel with caution.
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After gaining the main ridgeline, I was greeted with excellent views on both sides of the pass, and, to my pleasant surprise, a straightforward looking system of ledges and scree hopping down to the unnamed lakes below. After checking the time and realizing I was moving a little slow, I decided to save the summit for another day and make my way down to Dragon Lake to camp. The travel down to the unnamed lakes was uneventful, albeit slow thanks to larger rocks and boulders. After gaining the shoreline of the north-most lake below the pass, I confidently headed down the right-most of two N/NE trending chutes leading down toward Dragon Lake. I had read in several reports that this was the correct choice, and that the left chute resulted in an impassable drop-off.
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Unfortunately, this is where I encountered the diciest conditions of the whole route. What was easy travel to begin with quickly funneled into a section much steeper and narrower than I had anticipated from the topo. To complicate things, I found myself in the narrowest section stuck between a rock wall on my left and an icy snow field of an angle that I wasn’t comfortable even trying to cross on my right. After taking a number of befuddled looks at the map to determine if I had in fact gotten into the wrong decent chute, I ended up concluding that there must have been significant recent rock fall that has made this section steeper, looser, and more difficult to navigate in general. I backtracked upward a bit to get on the other side of the snow field without crossing it, which I still believe was the safest option, but then found myself in a mess of very loose and steep scree blocks mixed with kitty litter. After careful picking down to the bottom I was relieved to see a less steep (but still very boulder-choked) last stretch toward Dragon Lake.
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After the prolonged journey and slightly elevated stress, Dragon Lake seemed to be the most serene place on earth. Perfectly flat and sandy places to pitch a tent, birds chirping, fish jumping, a cool breeze through the trees keeping the bugs at bay, and the sun setting on the route I had just descended. I had a very relaxing dinner by the lake and headed to sleep with the dark.
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The next day, having already decided that the conditions in the N/NE chute the day before made me nervous about East Gardiner Pass and Gardiner Pass, especially in storms, I planned to descend into the Rae Lakes basin to hook up with the JMT and loop back to Onion Valley via Glen and Kearsarge passes. The thought of easy trail-travel lulled me into a slow morning of watching the light creep onto the peaks surrounding the Rae Lakes Basin. Once I got moving I tracked down the use trail leading from Dragon to the southern Rae Lake (which was hard to spot near the outlet of Dragon, but more obvious as it went), and made the easy decent quickly. I hadn’t seen another person since leaving Onion Valley, but greeted no less than 10 hikers within minutes of joining the JMT. Sigh. I hadn’t been over Glen pass before and found myself amused at how steep and sloggy my ‘easy trail-travel day’ had quickly become. Regardless, reaching the pass was uneventful and the views along the way were great, and I was soon headed down toward the Kearsarge Pass trail junction. The weather was hot at these lower elevations, and the trail to Kearsarge felt longer than it was. The breeze on top was welcome, and I descended relatively quickly to the trailhead from there. (...more pics in follow-up post...)
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B.Kruger
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by B.Kruger »

More pics, since I reached my limit:
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levi
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by levi »

Awesome report, thanks! Dragon Peak is so distinctive. I've been wanting to do something like this route for a while, though it may have to wait til fall or 2019... will definitely refer to your notes in the future :)
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hikerduane
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by hikerduane »

Thank you for the report, super photos. I visited the lake when I did the Rae Lakes loop, starting at Kearsarge. So many places, I'll never see.
Duane
Piece of cake.
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B.Kruger
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by B.Kruger »

levi wrote:Awesome report, thanks! Dragon Peak is so distinctive. I've been wanting to do something like this route for a while, though it may have to wait til fall or 2019... will definitely refer to your notes in the future :)
Awesome! It feels very remote and adventure-y, even though you're only a few miles from major visitation areas. I hope you do it!
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B.Kruger
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by B.Kruger »

hikerduane wrote:...So many places, I'll never see.
Duane
Good grief, I hear you on that. I was actually thinking the same thing while I was out there.
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by tahoefoothills »

I accompanied a friend of mine last July on this same route. The goal was to summit Mt. Clarence King and hike out back over Kearsarge Pass in one day. Actually, my friend, who is an accomplished climber, was going to summit Clarence King; I was just along for the ride. Anyway, the ascent and descent over Dragon Pass took us too long to get it all done in a day, so we aborted Clarence King and headed back over Glen Pass, Kearsarge Pass and back to the car. Quite a long day. Dragon Pass is no joke. All was not lost, though, the scenery was spectacular as your photos document. My buddy went back a couple of weeks later on the conventional route over Kearsarge and Glen and bagged Clarence King in a day. I probably slowed him down on his first attempt. Good times, though! Thanks for your trip report and photos that bring it all back!
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by notis »

Thanks for the report! Beautiful photos. I especially like the one of the light setting over your tent at Dragon Lake.

I'll be taking a group of friends over over Kearsarge, playing around for a couple days, then exiting via Gould Pass. I.e., I'll be traveling the opposite direction as you. You foresee any problems for us?
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Re: TR: Dragon Pass-Dragon Lake-Glen Pass-Kearsarge Loop

Post by cgundersen »

Hi B.K.,
I'll second all the positive comments from others and your route suggestions are definitely helpful for those of us (like, Levi) who have not yet visited that particular slice of heaven. cameron
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