Woodchuck Country/ Blackcap Basin

[wildhiker]

Quite a long time ago (1977), we camped at Rae Lake and the next morning hiked up trail to Lower Indian Lake and then easily cross-country to Davis Lake and then up the western ridge of Peak 11,994 on the LeConte Divide, where we had excellent views.
-Phil

[michaelzim]

Thanks @michaelzim I was going to go up Hell For Sure Pass but it never occurred to me to go up Red Mountain. I think that we may do that instead of Hell for Sure Pass. Were the views outstanding? Also, thanks for the camping ideas.
@mkbgdns I am shooting for either Rae or Disappointment that second night.

LTS... Climbing up Red Mt. is 'easy' from the west side or even from the crest of Hell for Sure pass. We went north from Disappointment Lake up that spur towards peak 11,045 then did a gentle curve to the east to come at Red Mt. over its gentle western slope. And yes the views were great in all directions and could even see Martha Lake - which was a long yearned goal that became a reality on my summer 2021 trip en route to Tunemah with Ian H.
Hell For Sure pass looks like a helluva slog on the east side of it! We went back down to the pass crest itself on the way back to Disappointment Lake, so made a little loop of the day hike. Was really nice.

Here's a couple of pics of Red Mt. but only one of the view (looking north) to not spoil it.

Red Mt. western slope

North View

Best ~ Michaelzim

[Wandering Daisy]

There actually are three areas to consider; Red Mountain Basin, Blackcap Basin and the bench between the two (I think it is called Bench Lakes?) Each has its more scenic locations. The big difference is the effort it takes to reach each. The bench with Cathedral Lake is stunning but two full days to reach and no maintained trail the last mile. The rest of Blackcap Basin is moderately spread out. Red Mountain Basin takes one long day to reach, all trail and is a bit more compact so ideal if you have limited time. I have only visited the bench between while traversing from Red Mountain to Blackcap Basin, or the other direction, so cannot comment on ease of getting there as a single destination.

The Maxon Meadow trail is boring but fast walking. Once to the river, the river itself can be quite spectacular in high flow. Unfortunately, this year it may be a shadow of its full flow.

In my opinion, the best route is to quickly walk up to Portal Lake on the trail and then after at least a day-hike to Cathedral Lake, traverse through Blackcap Basin, over Blackcap Pass up to Bullet Lake or up to Confusion Lake and over the pass to Bullet Lake, then traverse into Red Mountain Basin dropping into Big Shot Lake, circle up to Horseshoe Lake, and back out via Hell for Sure Lake, Disappointment, Flemming. This takes about 10 days to really see everything- a week minimum.

Courtright Lake itself is very nice to camp at the night before your trip. There is both dispersed and campground camping available.

[Love the Sierra]

Thank you so much @Wandering Daisy
We are not such fast hikers and have only 6 days so we will be going to Red Mountain. Thank you for your earlier post with the campsite ideas! We got to see the Kings in all its full glory during a trip June of 2016. That was when Fleming was running so high too we could not cross. Yes, hiking out of Courtright is a little boring, but makes for an easy enough first day after a long drive from Ventura County.
@michaelzim Thanks for the picture and the route. I intend to go to Cal Topo and plan it out as best I can.

[Love the Sierra]

@k@kpeter yes, I will make a point of seeing the sunset from up there. I remember your incredible photos!

[Love the Sierra]

Thanks Phil, @wildhiker for the great idea!
I am staring at the map now and planning our route.

[Love the Sierra]

Since I am quite the novice off trail navigator, I thought that I would post my routes for critique. How does this look, everyone? Thank you all for your advice and help! I am pretty excited about being able to successfully navigate all of this and seeing this magnificent country!
https://caltopo.com/m/QB6FS

@michaelzim Is this your route up Red Mountain? I LOVE IT! If I got it correct, wow, it takes so much of the climb out of it!

[michaelzim]

@michaelzim Is this your route up Red Mountain? I LOVE IT! If I got it correct, wow, it takes so much of the climb out of it!

Yep! You got it both on the way up and the way down.

Best ~ M

[jrad]

.... Never been to Rae Lake- it may be less buggy.

Rae Lake is beautiful, very interesting, very scenic - not as spectacular as many high lakes but you could hardly ask for a more beautiful Sierra lake. There were a few good size fish swimming about there a couple of years ago but it could well be fished out - last couple of visits I saw not a single ripple at dawn/dusk when fish should be breaking the water surface.

I was there, ironically, just 2 days after your post!

Bugs were a bit annoying at Rae but no problem to avoid bites almost 100%, using head net (folded up onto hat 50-75% of the time) and long clothing. Trails in that region are lightly traveled generally. I saw nobody from junction N. Fork Kings/Fleming Creek, past Devil's Punchbowl, Rae Lake, up to Long Meadow on 6/28 after which I finally saw several small groups.