Trip Advice: Onion Valley/60 Lakes Basin/Gardiner Basin Loop
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:25 am
Hey there, I'm scrapping my plan to hit Gould or Dragon Pass (looks a little too sketchy to get into that right off the bat) to Rae Lakes, but here's my new plan, still in progress (https://caltopo.com/m/7664). Our new plan still does include lots of passes. Kearsarge Pass, Glen Pass, Rae Col, 60 Lakes Col, Basin Notch, East Gardiner Pass, Gardiner Pass, and then Kearsarge AGAIN. It's gonna be a doozy, but still only 10k over 6 days/5 nights, surprisingly. The current plan is:
Day 1 (Wednesday): Drive to trailhead and hike to Flower/Matlock Lake for camp to acclimate a bit. We're coming from 5k and hike at elevation a lot, so I'm hoping the acclimation process isn't too bad for us. Distance: 2.5-3 miles.
Day 2 (Thursday): Pretty big day. Hike from Flower/Matlock to camp at 60 Lakes Basin via Rae Col, bypassing Rae Lakes. This hike will go over 3 humps, Kearsarge Pass, Glen Pass, and Rae Col. I'm tired thinking about it. Distance: ~9-10 miles.
Day 3 (Friday): Layover day, but we won't be laying! Gonna bust out the day packs and dayhike down 60 Lakes Basin, through Basin Notch and back up through Rae Lakes and back on the regular 60 Lakes Basin trail to camp. Or reverse. Distance: to be determined!
Day 4 (Saturday): Climb from 60 Lakes Basin over 60 Lakes Col to Gardiner Basin to find another camp. Explore! Might grab Mt. Cotter on the way. Distance: 3-5 miles between camps.
Day 5 (Sunday): Another pretty big day. From Gardiner Basin, go west over Gardiner Pass East, south over Gardiner Pass and then on to either Charlotte Lake or Kearsarge Lakes, or somewhere around there, depending on time and/or energy. Distance: ~6.5 to Charlotte Lake and 10 to Kearsarge Lakes.
Day 6 (Monday): Hike out. Distance: ~9 from Charlotte Lake. ~5.5 from Kearsarge Lakes.
Total distance: ~30.3 miles (obviously will be more with all the route finding and exploring)
Let me know what you think of this plan. It's gonna be tough with all the XC, but the mileage really isn't that huge. Our original plan was the North to South Lake loop which would have been ~60 miles in 6 days/5 nights. I'd argue this might be easier, although with a lot more XC and passes, so maybe not! Any more intel on these passes/XC travel would be awesome.
I'd also love for some intel from you guys on how to find solitude on this hike, especially for campsites. I know it's an incredibly popular trailhead and there will be sections with crowds. However, I did favor XC travel in this plan, scrapped Rae Lakes as a camp area in favor of two nights in 60 Lakes Basin, and I think I timed it so we'll be pretty well away from people on the weekend (except for the day hiking exploration of Rae Lakes on Friday and finding a campsite at Charlotte/Kearsarge Lakes on Sunday. I would love some tips for secluded campsites for each of my nights. If you don't want to give up that intel, that's totally understandable. I'm sure we can hunt and find something good!
Any other tips/advice would be much appreciated as well. Thanks!
Day 1 (Wednesday): Drive to trailhead and hike to Flower/Matlock Lake for camp to acclimate a bit. We're coming from 5k and hike at elevation a lot, so I'm hoping the acclimation process isn't too bad for us. Distance: 2.5-3 miles.
Day 2 (Thursday): Pretty big day. Hike from Flower/Matlock to camp at 60 Lakes Basin via Rae Col, bypassing Rae Lakes. This hike will go over 3 humps, Kearsarge Pass, Glen Pass, and Rae Col. I'm tired thinking about it. Distance: ~9-10 miles.
Day 3 (Friday): Layover day, but we won't be laying! Gonna bust out the day packs and dayhike down 60 Lakes Basin, through Basin Notch and back up through Rae Lakes and back on the regular 60 Lakes Basin trail to camp. Or reverse. Distance: to be determined!
Day 4 (Saturday): Climb from 60 Lakes Basin over 60 Lakes Col to Gardiner Basin to find another camp. Explore! Might grab Mt. Cotter on the way. Distance: 3-5 miles between camps.
Day 5 (Sunday): Another pretty big day. From Gardiner Basin, go west over Gardiner Pass East, south over Gardiner Pass and then on to either Charlotte Lake or Kearsarge Lakes, or somewhere around there, depending on time and/or energy. Distance: ~6.5 to Charlotte Lake and 10 to Kearsarge Lakes.
Day 6 (Monday): Hike out. Distance: ~9 from Charlotte Lake. ~5.5 from Kearsarge Lakes.
Total distance: ~30.3 miles (obviously will be more with all the route finding and exploring)
Let me know what you think of this plan. It's gonna be tough with all the XC, but the mileage really isn't that huge. Our original plan was the North to South Lake loop which would have been ~60 miles in 6 days/5 nights. I'd argue this might be easier, although with a lot more XC and passes, so maybe not! Any more intel on these passes/XC travel would be awesome.
I'd also love for some intel from you guys on how to find solitude on this hike, especially for campsites. I know it's an incredibly popular trailhead and there will be sections with crowds. However, I did favor XC travel in this plan, scrapped Rae Lakes as a camp area in favor of two nights in 60 Lakes Basin, and I think I timed it so we'll be pretty well away from people on the weekend (except for the day hiking exploration of Rae Lakes on Friday and finding a campsite at Charlotte/Kearsarge Lakes on Sunday. I would love some tips for secluded campsites for each of my nights. If you don't want to give up that intel, that's totally understandable. I'm sure we can hunt and find something good!
Any other tips/advice would be much appreciated as well. Thanks!