Anyone travel Rae Lakes Loop? 2010

[Jerry Bridgeman]

Hi I just got back from Rea Lakes tonight.

There is snow from 1/4 mile below dollar lake.
Rea Lakes are 50% frozen. Not a lot of areas to camp clear of snow.

Glen Pass is covered with lots of snow from the top to the base.
PCT and JMT hikers were coming down.

Two Hikers are coming down the Pass.

Bring snow climbing gear and GPS so you can find the trail. It was mostly guess work from dollar lake up.

There is a lot of tree blow downs above the Upper Paradise Valley bridge. Snow avalanches knocked down trees over the trail in 2 areas. Between the downed trees and snow it added over an hour to the hike up to Rea Lakes.

I turned around at the base of the pass. I think you would have better luck if you went up Bubbs Creek and down into Rea Lakes.
Camp at Rea Lakes

Glen Pass

Castle Dome Meadows

Jerry

[Bob Gross]

Very interesting.

–B.G.–

[Rob Vandiver]

Thanks for the info, Jerry.

[Jerry Bridgeman]

Added some pictures to post above.

Jerry

[Chuck Cheese]

awesome, thanks for the info Jerry. Headed out that way tomorrow, was planning on going the traditional clockwise route but might start off via Bubbs Creek instead. How were the mosquitos?

[Jerry Bridgeman]

The Mosquito's where only below 6500 feet in the shade.
Put the Deet on at the start and when you are coming back down.
Never used the head net.

Lots of streams to cross. They are at least 25% lower in the morning so it is worth starting early each day. Bring something dry to wear for your feet in camp. My feet were constantly soaked from crossing streams.

Jerry

Crossing above Dollar lake

[David Lutz]

Have a great trip James……..we'll be looking forward to a trail condition report when you return…..

[F. R.]

how were temperatures? what kind of gear did you need in terms of clothing, footwear & sleeping arrangements to handle the cold and the snow on the ground?

I'm planning on doing the trail first week of August. Do you think conditions will be significantly different?

[Kent C.]

> F.R. – yes, conditions will change considerably by then; they already have. Example: snow level has risen from 1/4 mile below Dollar Lk. to the southern Rae Lake; about 500'.

Just updated on Friday, 15th:
http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/trailcond.htm

I am going to attempt a walk-in permit this week and will report on conditions early next week if I get in.

[Kent C.]

Trip dates = July 20-23.

All blowdowns have been cleared by trail crews.

Only one shoes-off water crossing. It is located between Dollar Lk. and Woods Cr. crossing. All other crossings were easy (I had poles).
There was only one instance of run off coursing down the trail. This was in the vicinity of Middle Paradise. It was brief and easily managed.

Skeeters will come after you in Vidette Mdws. and in the campgrounds of Arrowhead Lk. and Rae Lakes. I was given reports by other hikers that in the canyons of Woods Cr. and Paradise they were bad, but didn't experience that myself.

Minimal snow on the south side of Glen Pass; deep sun cups but easily passable. The north side of Glen Pass had maybe ~60-70% snow coverage with deep sun cups. However, the foot paths of all the previous hikers make it easy to follow the trail. You will constantly alter between open trail and snow-covered trail. Poles were very helpful.

For those of you who like easy access to water, there were plenty of sources flowing down from the peaks above. The peaks are snow free, but as of a week ago, the water was still running.

Path visible in the snow:

Alternating patches of clear ground and snow:

[Erik Dietz]

Kent, thank you for posting this. I was wondering when people would start posting some updated conditions in the sierras. Were Dollar and Arrowhead Lake still frozen over?

[Kent C.]

Hi Erik,

Arrowhead and Dollar are ice-free, as are the Rae Lakes. The small lakes below Glen on the north side, above the Rae Lakes, are also clear of ice, or at least accessible.

The only lakes with ice are the 'pothole' lakes on the south side of Glen Pass and they are only partly frozen. In fact I got water from the runoff of the upper lake.

Lower of the two pothole lakes south of Glen Pass:

Lakes – north side of Glen Pass:

[Andrew Sorenson]

My sons and I finished the Rae Lakes Loop on Tuesday and it is very passable all the way around. There was only one creek where we had to get our feet wet, and the snow on the north side of Glenn Pass was no problem due to the tracks of other hikers. The biggest snowfield we had to cross was a couple hundred yards. The weather could not have been better, and we didn't see a single bear or rattlesnake. Awesome trip!

I even met Kent C. and had a discussion about grammar on web forums. Greetings Kent!

[Kent C.]

Hey Andrew!

Glad to see you and your sons had a great time! I really enjoyed meeting all of you on the trail, a real pleasure! Did you find time to play any football?! :-D

[Suzy Suzy]

Thanks for all of the recent trail updates. This is very helpful. I start the loop on Aug 8th and plan to bring deet, rain coat and poles after reading the other posts.

This is my first extended backpacking trip and I'm very excited!

Suzy

[Andrew Sorenson]

Kent – Hahaha! The football didn't see much action. By the time we got to Rae, my blisters were pretty bad and I could barely walk. But my sons were so busy catching fish that they didn't care about it anyway. It was good to meet you for sure!

Suzy – by the 8th, you'll have nothing at all to worry about. It will be an awesome time!

[Ian Figueroa]

Hi all,

I'm looking to do the Rae Lakes Loop either on September 16-19 or September 30-Oct 3, 2011. Just reading the posts and looking at the pictures posted by the members here about Rae Lakes loop, I know this is something I really want to do.

I'm new to back country wilderness hiking and camping, This will be my first hiking and backpacking trip to span 4 days, But I will be definitely be packing light, just carrying my backpack, sleeping bag, tent, and cooking gear, and one set of clothes with layers to remove and put on depending on the condition. I'm not sure how fit I am, but I run 2 miles about 3-4 times per week, and completed 3 full marathons in the last 5 years. Okay enough with the rant,

This is my itinerary on the Rae lakes Loop for either September 16-19 or September 30-Oct 3. I work nights, and I get off work Friday 730 am, then I have to go back to work Monday Night at 7 pm. So I'm limited on time.

Friday Day 1: Arrive at the start by 2 pm, and continue either counterclockwise or clockwise until just before the sun sets, and set up camping.

Saturday Day 2: Get up early just at daybreak and continue on with the loop

Sunday Day 3: Same as Day 2

Monday Day 4: Get back to the starting point/area by 830 or 9 am, and go home to Fresno, hopefully a 2 hour drive.

I'm just wondering if the Rae lakes is doable in that time frame, basically we're looking at 2 full days, both days waking up early, and continuing on just until before the sun sets. any tips and advice is appreciated.

[Bob Gross]

You might have problems with a wilderness permit.

–B.G.–

[Aaron Sorensen]

Just got back from doing the loop.

With your intended times on finishing early on day 4, I would go clockwise. Going counter-clockwise would mean a very long day 3. I'm sure you would want to spend a night at the Rea Lakes regions, meaning you would have to go all the way to lower paradise the next day in order to make it back that early day 4.
That is a long hike.

Going clockwise would be upper paradise, the Rea Lakes region and then down to the campground at the Sphinx/ Avalanche Pass junction.
Day 3 would still be a long hike but in all a little more manageable trip.

There are also some camping locations about 8 or so miles from the end between Vidette and the Avalanche junction. If you're at that point where you are not sure you want to continue to the Avalanche junction, just make sure you do not go through the last fence barrier.

Sorry, I'm not too familiar with the camping spots names as I have only done the trail once overnight and the other 6 times have been in one day. The camping places just go by one right after another.

[Bob Gross]

"8 or so miles from the end between Vidette and the Avalanche junction."

That would be the Junction Meadow (Bubbs Creek) area. The lower end of that is used by backpackers and packers. The upper end of that is the junction with the East Lake Trail.

Just so there is no confusion, this is totally different from Junction Meadow (Kern River).

–B.G.–

[Aaron Sorensen]

Yes, thank you…

[Author]

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