From JMT mile 169.4 to 175.7 Total: 11.5 miles hiked 8/16
On the eighteenth day of my John Muir Trail trek I left camp at Arrowhead lake, visited the Rae Lakes on the way to the top of Glen Pass, continued toward Charlotte Lake, left the JMT for the Kearsarge Pass Trail, summited Kearsarge Pass, then descended east toward Onion Valley and camped at Flower Lake.
Keith and I woke up at 4am, just like always. But we took a bit longer than usual to get ready to hike. Probably because the reflections of the alpenglow across Arrowhead Lake meant that I had to spend too long taking pictures. It was a fine morning here in lower Rae Lakes Basin.
By the time we were ready Sabrina was busy getting ready, too. She wasn’t entirely on board with this 4am nonsense, but she still counted as an early riser. When we headed out of camp she only had to put away her tent. We agreed that she’d catch up with us in no time, especially because Keith intended to do some fly fishing along the way. That would slow us down for sure.
The trail climbed uphill a bit on the way to the lowest Rae Lake (lake #1). We got some fine views south of the ring of peaks surrounding the basin. Painted Lady was the classic peak in photos from Rae Lake #3 but the others were important in their own light. I liked Dragon Peak because Vicki and I hiked up to Dragon Lake back in 2019 on our visit to the basin from Onion Valley. And I thought that Falcor Peak looked funny.
The weather remained calm as we arrived at the lowest Rae Lake. Keith got out his fly rod and caught a brookie fairly quickly. But we didn’t stay there long. There were more lakes in our future.
Lower Rae Lake (lake #2) was much larger. I took more reflection photos of both Painted Lady and Fin Dome. Vicki and I also climbed up on the southern edge of the fin on that previous trip when we went to view Sixty Lakes Basin. I also told Keith about the fateful 2020 trip that my son and I hiked, when we were directly under a plume of wildfire smoke and falling ash while camped at this lake. That was a crazy day, even if the fire itself was a hundred miles away. We put down our backpacks this time, up near the trail on the hill, and walked down to the lake to go fishing. Keith caught more trout with ease, as always. I remain in awe of his skills. Or else I’m too old to learn his style, not that I really have one of my own, unless fishing without catching can be called a style.
We hiked on, around past the Ranger Station and the side trail to the main campground area, all the way to Upper Rae Lake (lake #3). Now Painted Lady was right in front of us, and it was already being lit by the sun. It has red stripes running through its gray granite, which gave it the Painted moniker. Very pretty. The trail followed directly along the shoreline, so Keith left his backpack on as he fished. This is when Sabrina caught up to us. She and I talked while Keith did a bit more fishing.
Just the same, the sun was coming up, and fishing time was over. We headed for the rock-hoppable stream between the two lakes, the continued south on the JMT. It began climbing immediately. We had at least 1500 feet to climb over the next two miles in order to summit Glen Pass. That’s about a fifteen percent grade, which is fairly steep by Sierra standards, where the trails were built for horses carrying loads. We were the only horses around here, so we tightened our hip belts and carried on.
Luckily, the air was still cool. This time I was totally left in the dust by both Keith and Sabrina. I think they just pretended to be tired while they waited for me to catch up. That was nice of them. I wasn’t trying all that hard anyway. I knew we had plenty of time, since we were only hiking eleven miles total. I stopped and breathed when I felt like it, and I also took too many photos, as always. These things take time.
We arrived at the base of the final set of switchbacks up to the pass. This north-facing slope is scary in the Spring, when the early PCT Thru-hikers arrive, but right now it was fine. If you count steep switchbacks with occasional large steps as being “fine.” There was nothing to do except climb it. So away we went.
There was a long basin full of unnamed lakes to the northwest as we climbed. This was High Sierra tundra-country for sure. There were also fine views looking back toward the Rae Lakes Basin, although the lighting wasn’t great this early in the morning. Just the same, when you looked down there, it really made you appreciate just how high you already managed to climb. Satisfying.
The final two miles took us about an hour and a half, which wasn’t bad, in my book. Vicki would have taken twice as long, as her lungs don’t love high altitude. We arrived on the summit and there was already a party going on. We certainly weren’t the earliest of birds that morning. As always, it was a fun crowd. And this was a perfect spot for an extended break. The views were truly excellent.
We got some of the others to take our photos on the top. Some facing north, others facing south. This was the only time we could do it, after all. This was also my sixth time being up here. It never gets old, let me tell you.
We only spent about fifteen minutes on the pass. We didn’t even take off our backpacks. Then we continued south and left all the others on the summit, still lounging around. I can’t say I blame them. Keith wanted to get down below, where there was a lake full of Brookies. Sabrina had a shower and a soft bed in front of her. And I had to get enough food to make it to the summit of Mount Whitney. Everybody has something that motivates them. So down we went, switchback after switchback. It was an easy and fast descent.
We took another break next to the unnamed lake below the pass. I let Sabrina know that this was the last water source until Flower Lake, on the far side of Kearsarge Pass. That’s where Keith and I were camping. We filtered enough water to carry us over the top. Meanwhile, Keith went fishing for Brookies. He didn’t have that great a time, for some reason. He usually pulls them out like crazy. I caught quite a few last time. Maybe we spooked them inadvertently. Who knows?
We still had a few hundred feet more to descend, on our way out and around toward the Charlotte Creek valley. I pointed out Charlotte Dome in the distance down the valley. I hiked that way back in 2022, on a crazy loop of my own invention. That was a memorable trip, both good and bad.
The trail continued downhill, staying high above Charlotte Lake. Mount Bago was across the way. It was red and volcanic, a lot like Crater Mountain that we hiked past yesterday near Pinchot Pass. We didn’t have far to go before we arrived at the Kearsarge Pass Trail junction. This is the point where we had to leave the John Muir Trail behind. And the only reason, for me, was to get enough food to keep going. Lots of JMT and PCT hikers use this trail as a resupply route. It just works out well for everyone. I mentioned to Keith that Bob had planned to have a horse packer deliver him a bucket of food right here, so he wouldn’t have to hike over Kearsarge Pass. He said it cost about $400, but it also saved him a day, and a whole lot of elevation gain and loss.
We took the trail and headed east. Kearsarge Pass was about three miles away, and about a thousand feet above us. This seemed reasonable, even though we just finished climbing one high pass. Why not make it two? And so we started hiking onward. And the trail was easy at first. It didn’t get steep until the final switchbacks. I had been here before, so I knew to keep my eye out for Forester Pass. There was only one spot where you could see it from here. Sabrina and I got out our Peakfinder Earth apps, and located Junction Peak in the distance. The pass was two dips to the right of it. Keith and I would be approaching it tomorrow, and climbing it the next day, if all went well with my resupply.
By this time it was getting close to noon. We decided to stop for lunch at a really nice spot looking down onto Bullfrog Lake. Beyond it was the steep drop into the Bubbs Creek Canyon, where we would hike tomorrow. Across from that was East and West Vidette, as well as other peaks heading off into the distance. I mentioned to Keith that we should probably skip a short stretch of JMT and take the low trail through the Kearsarge Basin tomorrow, so that he would have a chance to catch some Brookies down in that lake. He liked this idea.
After another mile of mellow climbing, we reached the junction with the Bullfrog Lake Trail that we would hike tomorrow. It also led down to the Kearsarge Lakes, a popular camping spot as it was a one-day hike from Onion Valley. The lakes were a great fishing spot. Last year, in 2024, I camped there while hiking north on the PCT, and did a “quick” out and back run from Onion Valley to get my resupply. That was a tough day. Not quick at all. That’s why we were heading over the pass right now. Even with full packs it would be better than last year’s plan.
After that, it was time to head up the switchbacks to Kearsarge Pass. Luckily for us, the cumulus clouds were already building, and we had a bit of shade, which made a huge difference. The best part of this climb was the views out over the basin, especially that of the lakes and pinnacles. Very pretty.
When we arrived at the pass there must have been twenty people up there! It was a bigger party than the one on Glen Pass. Many of these folks were day-hikers out of Onion Valley. It was a 2500 foot five mile climb, and was a solid day’s work for most people. Especially if you weren’t acclimated to elevation. The pass was 11,760 feet high, on a par with any of the last four passes we climbed. We would be climbing this again tomorrow.
When I arrived, the most surprising thing of the entire trek happened to me. One of the hikers said to me “Hey! I know you! You’re that writer guy; you write about hiking, right?” I was in shock. I couldn’t speak for a moment. Like writer’s block, but with my lips. “Hikingtales?” I stammered out. “Yeah! That’s the one.” And then we got to talking. He was planning to hike from Horseshoe Meadows to Kennedy Meadows with a friend and he liked my story about when Vicki and I did it back in 2020. I began to recover my voice. I told him to do it in late May or early June, before Kennedy Meadows got too hot. And then I asked if I could take his picture. He was my very first fan! This was actually quite exciting. Other people on the summit were listening by then. Blog? He writes what? They were asking. And then I hiked the last few steps to the top, telling them how excited I was, that I was finally famous after all these years, now that one single person actually recognized me! Everyone was laughing. I was still in shock, and never even asked him what his name was! If you read this, admirer-of-mine, please let me know your name. I realized after I got home and reviewed my photos, that I met him again a few days later, in Crabtree Meadows, and we hung out for a while talking as Keith went fishing. He was a really nice guy. Sadly, I’m the one that didn’t recognize him that time. My apologies!
After that episode, it was time to begin the descent toward Onion Valley. It was very obvious from up here that all of the clouds were building on the Sierra Crest itself (where the pass was) and that skies were clear and sunny to the east. So we hiked out of the shade. But that was OK. Big Pothole Lake was the first of the lakes below us. I told Keith that it supposedly had Brookies, but it was far down into a deep bowl (the pothole) and we didn’t really have time to stop. After the long hot switchbacks, we arrived on top of the headwall above Heart Lake. I could see the town of Independence far below us in Owens Valley. I told Sabrina that her motel was down there, and mentioned that we might get cell signal right now. Keith got some on his phone, and so did I. Both of us immediately called our wives. It had been a week since we spoke. Sabrina, meanwhile, was getting bored, and some of the day hikers were passing us on the way down. She realized that she needed to hitch a ride from one of them, so she said goodbye and blasted away on those long legs of hers. We wished her well. She already had my contact info and sent me photos of us a week or two later. Goodbye Sabrina! You were a great hiking partner. After a while, we both hung up and continued down the trail.
It was about 3pm when we arrived at the side trail that led to the far side of Flower Lake. This was the quiet side, away from the main trail. Vicki and I have camped there before. By this time it was also quite shady, and we heard the ominous sound of thunder from somewhere in the west. Oh boy. We picked a campsite and set up our tents right away, and tossed our gear inside. A moment or two later and it started sprinkling, just enough to dot the surface of the lake. It didn’t last long. I went off to filter a couple gallons of water while Keith did a bit of fly fishing. He caught a few ten inch Brookies, but I already knew by now that he liked streams and creeks the best. Still, hanging out fishing on a High Sierra lake wasn’t exactly a chore. It was peaceful and beautiful. Just what we needed after a long day of hiking.
By 4:30pm, the rain grew stronger. We both retired to our tents and got the insides squared away. We put on warmer clothing, as the air grew colder. The rain never really pelted down, and we didn’t get any hail. We saw some serious clouds hanging over the pass, and were glad we weren’t up there. I read my kindle and updated the day’s notes with my legs all warm in my sleeping bag. When the rain stopped for good, around 6pm, we both came outside for a while. We ate dinner and talked about tomorrow’s plan.
I set my alarm for 3:30am this time. I wanted to get a jump on the resupply. The main idea for tomorrow was that I would leave my heavy stuff here with Keith and slackpack down to Onion Valley, get my resupply, dump off any trash we had, and climb back up here. Then I would finish packing and we could head on back to the JMT, fishing as much as possible along the way. Keith liked that idea. And then we went to bed.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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