Easy Sierra Loop?

Perhaps take a look at the Jennie Lakes Wilderness area trailheads…

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I just did (month or so ago) a loop from Mineral King up over Timber Gap to Redwood Meadow, Hamilton Lake, Little Five Lakes, Columbine Lake, and then back to Mineral King. I did it over 5 days. If you do it over 7 it should be pretty easy.

It has the advantage of gaining altitude slowly while yet stil seeing a nice slice of the backcountry.
1st night 6000'
2nd night 8000'
3rd night 10000'
4th night 11000'

If you've got a couple of extra days, side trips in to 9 Lakes Basin and Big Five Lakes are possible (as are many others). I particularly liked Big Five Lakes. We took a relatively easy XC route from Little Five Lakes to and through the Big Five Lakes area which was a really nice alternative to the main trail. Number of people sighted during on our alternative route: zero. :)

Those Mineral King hikes are great, but more challenging than the Rae Lakes loop.

" Is there anywhere that you can start a little closer to elevation and hit a good loop, say up to 40 miles? Thanks all!"

A little further north you could go in over Paiute Pass, drop down to the JMT, follow it through Evolution Valley/Basin, and exit via Bishop Pass. That's a pretty sedate hike, less than 40 miles, and traverses some pretty nice country. The Paiute Pass TH begins at ~9400' and ascends gently over ~5 miles to Paiute Pass at ~11,450'. From there it's all downhill to the JMT and a gentle ascent back up to Bishop Pass at ~12,000' some 20 odd miles later.
It's technically not a loop since you start at North Lake and exit at South Lake, but you won't have much trouble getting a ride back up to your car. This loop is about half in Kings Canyon NP and half outside the park.

Edited by Tom.

A nice overnight side trip on this route would be to hike up Goddard Canyon and spend the night at Martha Lake, then drop back down and continue your hike. Pretty country up there and not a lot of people.

That's a great "loop." You can connect North and South Lakes via the trail over Table Mountain. Haven't been over that trail in a long time. Might be worth a call to the Ranger Station to check on conds.

Wow, thanks for the great suggestions everyone. Tom, Jim, I'm definitely going to look that route up on the map.

Looks like my trip is being pushed a week though. Has anyone experienced the mid October weather up there? I'll be going Oct. 11 to 18th. Looks like temps are staying warmer this year than the past. Still might have to put that new Feathered Friends bag on the credit card though!

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DS,

My personnel opinion, having done both, is that the Rae Lakes Loop is much easier than the North Lake to South Lake Loop. First, it's shorter (~40 miles vs ~55 miles) and second, you only go over one pass instead of three. Yes, you do start lower in elevation, but the climbing is very gradual, especially if you go clockwise.

Check out the backpacking section of CaseyAndEmily.com for my trip reports of these fantastic loops.

I agree with Casey too. I have done both hikes and think Rae Lakes is MUCH easier