TR: Onion Valley to Rae Lakes (7/4-6 2014)

[seanr]

Are you saying that a large group of people were coming from Dragon Lake?

Oh, I'll edit that remark in my post to be more clear. I was coming from Dragon Lake and started to see lots of people as I joined the JMT at Rae Lakes (the junction is a tad south of the Ranger station). Crowds dissipated for me a bit south of Glen Pass, but I''ll add that I had seen a lot of people in Vidette Meadow along the JMT a couple of days prior. Aside from a few people near Golden Trout Lake on a Saturday, the other people I saw on three hikes from Onion Valley included lots at the lakes west of K. Pass, several near K. Pass itself, a few in Kearsarge Basin, and the crowds along the JMT. I saw nobody in Robinson Lake-University Pass/Peak-Center Basin area on a Sunday and nobody in the GTL-Gould-Dragon Lake area on the Tuesday mentioned above. The JMT crowds were a bit of a shock to my system, but I exchanged lots of friendly banter as I made way along the freeway. Yeah, I've built up some stamina and do some very technically easy scrambles (class 2-3/no ropes/equipment). My favorite times though were taking a break at Dragon Lake and at an unnamed lake in Center Basin, so I'll probably get back into some backpacking with my young kids pretty soon. *Edit: many of you know why I saw few people, but those considering the routes I mentioned should understand they are steep, rugged, unmaintained, washed out in places, x-country with route-finding decisions in places, and contain significant glacial moraine debris (huge boulders and talus). I will report with images sometime this month.

Anyway,
It sounds like the OP has some decent stamina as well and got to see Rae Lakes minus the village feeling.

[davidsheridan]

I love the picture of the Milky Way. I love watching it cross the sky on a clear night. That is something I have only been able to witness when backpacking in a remote area. I wish everyone could have that experience. It is sad to think that most people on earth will never witness that because they live in cities. Maybe that is one reason why our world is so f*d up?

[pakoR]

Thanks everyone.

maverick:
There weren't many people camping around Rae Lakes while we were there, maybe 5 or so total that I saw. This I found surprising. Since last fall, I had been researching a trip to Rae Lakes, and everywhere I read that the trail and the Rae Lakes area tend to be congested most of the summer. I was expecting to see a Disneyland kind of atmosphere. The parking lot at the TH was about 90% full when we arrived around 8:30am, and that added to my worries. But, it was fairly desolate.

There was one thru-hiker of note. He was exiting the Kearsarge Pass trail for a side-trip to Independence or Bishop to go see the 4th of July parade.

mello,
I found the whole area to be amazing. For a future trip, I'd probably dedicate a few more days for day-hiking. I'd like to explore more of the Sixty Lakes Basin, Gardiner Basin, Dragon Lake.

The hermit, Hobbes, seanr:
Thanks for the clarification on the mileage. It certainly felt more than 10 miles, but it was great. I was actually worried the evening before that my g/f might have a tough time getting over Kearsarge Pass. But when we reached the last junction to Charlotte Lake, she said she was feeling good and wanted to keep going. And so we did. What did I learn? I was worrying for no reason, and she's a keeper.

Thanks also for the link to Halfmile's mapping app.

davidsheridan:
Some weeks ago I volunteered as a mentor with Big City Mountaineers. We did a 5-day trip in Yosemite, Ten Lakes to May Lake. These were inner-city teenagers who had never backpacked before. Hearing their expressions as the sun set over the horizon and painted the sky, and then watching the myriad stars appear was a treat. They definitely enjoyed this rare experience. One kid mentioned that he had seen 2 shooting stars in his life. In 15 minutes of star-gazing, he got to see 6. He couldn't contain his excitement.