Rae Lakes Loop

MVP:

My awesome legs—I can’t believe it just kept giving even though I was pushing myself much further than I’ve ever tried. I mean, at the end of the second day, I felt a discomfort due to the two blisters (between the big toe and index toe on both feet), but if I had to, I could have hiked another 10 miles. Also, unlike last year, no hip pain!

Camp Review:

I found a beautiful site that could not be closer to Kearsarge Lake (it was an established site 25 feet from the lake, so I was following rules).
I loved the view and how quiet it all was. Given the popularity of the Rae Lakes Trail, I had expected more people, though I guess most people don’t add on miles (by going to Kearsarge) to check out a sick sunrise.
The ground was pretty flat and it was the perfect amount of ease to put in the ground stakes. There were a few bugs, but not that much (probably due to higher elevation).

Trail Review:

I hiked the Rae Lakes Loop in a counterclockwise direction. I hiked the Bubbs Creek Trail, John Muir Trail, and Paradise Valley Trail.
Under 10k elevation, there were tons swarms of mosquitos at all hours of the day.
Whenever the trail neared the creeks, the trail would get sandy and hiking on that wasn’t fun. Still, most of the trails were hard packed dirt or rocks/pebbles—solid footing for days.
I would guess 30% of the trail was shaded. Obviously, higher the elevation, the less tree cover. Still, besides Glen Pass, there were still sporadic trees, which meant shady spots for water breaks. Also, there were granite boulders all over the trail, which meant great places to sit and rest your feet, when needed.

What I Learned:

I didn’t know I could hike so much with a 29lb pack on my back. On the first day, I hiked 17.4 miles, which included 6545 ft of elevation gain! Just as impressive, on the second day, I hiked 30.9 miles with 3279ft elevation gain!
I learned that if I use my AirPods from 10am until 8pm, the battery in the case will completely run out. I only had this issue on the first day. On the second day, I didn’t run into this problem, as I only listened with one ear at a time (allowing the non-used one to recharge), which meant I had double the battery life.
I have never tasted such delicious backpacking food as the Mountain House Mexican-Style Adobe with Rice and Chicken. Conversely, AlpineAire’s Pork Pad Thai wasn’t very good. Still, I love AlpineAire’s packaging as it fits tighter into my small bear canister.
The mosquitos were super bad, but due to permethrin, my upper body was (almost) unscathed. Unfortunately, my legs are a different story, as they got bitten especially hard on my night hike back to my car.
I’m 50/50 on my hiking poles. They were useful for certain steep ascent/decent, but most of the time, they sat around as an additional 1 lb weight in my pack.
I kept washing my self (arms, legs, face, neck, etc) with stream water so that I would not overheat. This was good as I arrived too late at Kearsarge to jump into the lake (it was too cold/windy for a swim). It also made it easier to jump into bed, as my skin wasn’t a sticky mess.
Because I had hung out at Lassen earlier in the week, I did not face any issues with altitude sickness. This is even though I camped at almost 11k ft on the first night.
I woke up an hour late at home (4:45am) but still made it to the ranger station in time (9:30am). This happened because I could not sleep the night before and I only ended up sleeping 3 hrs. Still, I think driving up on the first day was good compared to leaving the day before and fighting over dispersed camping spots.
I was really surprised at how good my legs and feet felt 20+ miles into my hike. I mean I was humping my 26-28 lb pack. I wonder how far I can hike without a pack! Also, any anxiety I had about my Whitney hike later this month disappeared, since I proved to myself how strong I am at the moment.
I bought a Monoprice jetboil-knockoff, and oh man, it’s a game changer. The water boils super fast and the container just does a wonderful job of efficiently using the heat that it creates.
I sometimes flirt with the idea of changing out my pack with some expensive ultralight one, but this hike proved to me how comfortable this pack is for my body.
I wore my sun gloves and they worked great! They protected my hands from the harmful UV rays and were comfortable for all-day wear.
When the mosquitos got really bad, I wished that I had my permethrin imbued zip off pants. This way, I would have been totally protected from mosquitos!
Unlike my previous hikes this year, I definitely got into the “groove” of hiking on both days and that made this trip special for me. When I get into the groove, there’s less anxiety, less intentionality, and just simple, in-the-moment existence.
I finally used the caffeine pill to help stay awake during my drive home. It worked well!
I didn’t trust the condition of my regular hiking shoe soles, so I hiked with my waterproof trail runners instead. It worked just as well. The only time I wish I had my regular ones was when I was forced to get my feet wet for a creek crossing at Upper Paradise Valley. The waterproofing meant that the water inside the shoe stayed inside. Still, I hiked 10+ miles in them and I didn’t get any additional blisters.
I really like hiking from morning until evening. I did not find myself wanting camping time.
I brought single serving containers of peanut butter and it worked great! The single serving danish, however, got boring and I wished that I had packed Strips or something similar.

Fears Faced:

Is night hiking a smart thing to do?—Yes! I didn’t run into or see animals (although I did spot a very fresh bear scat in the middle of the trail). Actually I did see a few deer and one bear, but that was only when I started driving back. Otherwise, there was even less people and more serenity—well, if it weren’t for the moths/bugs that were attracted to my headlamp. The number one reason why night hiking is perfect for me is that the cooler temperatures help me not overheat.

Media Consumed:

The Princess Spy—finished.
Happiness—finished.
Barry TV Show Season 3 Recap Podcast—finished.
Hidden Figures—finished.
The Secret Life of Groceries—finished.
The Great Gatsby—finished.
War: How Conflict Shaped Us—finished.

People Met:

I didn’t make any friends, but man, were people just super friendly and nice. I think the isolation that hikers face during backpacking makes even the most introverted people welcome interactions with strangers.

17.4 miles, 10 hrs 19 mins, 6545 ft of ascent

30.9 miles, 19 hrs 34 mins, 3279 ft of ascent

What Happened?

I think I first saw pictures of Rae Lakes 4 or 5 years ago on reddit. Last year, I solidified my plans to see it by creating a route on my Gaia app. Earlier this year, I booked a reservation and thought I should be able to handle this hike if I were to spread it over a period of 5 days. A week before the trip, I planned to do the trip over 4 days. I ended up doing it in 2.

I arrived at the ranger station around 9:15am, which was 45 minutes before my reservation expired. I was a bit anxious as I slept through my alarm and was running late by an hour. Still, I got there in time, got my permit, and started hiking.

The start was terrible. Because I started later than I wanted, I struggled after the first two miles of easy, flat hiking. As the trail started gaining elevation, the temperature also started to rise. I think the ambient temperature was around 80 degrees when I was going up the switchbacks that introduced me to the Bubbs Creek Trail. The combination of difficult hiking and hot temperatures made me tired and slow down—which then made me question if I could make it to Kearsarge Lake, where I wanted to spend the first night. The second part that made me hate this part of the hike is that I uncharacteristically ate fried chicken the day before and well, lets just say that deeply fried food is something I will avoid in the future. I thought I wanted to eat lots to have lots of energy, but this food just made me feel sluggish.

Another reason for the terrible start was the amount of mosquitos! Thank goodness I wore my permethrin treated hoodie shirt and hat! If it weren’t for that, I would have been stung everywhere on my body. I did wear my running shorts, which meant that my legs were fair game for the bugs, but I found out (as on previous hikes) that if I kept moving, they legs would not be bit. The mosquitos were worst at the beginning and I must have swallowed or spit up a half dozen of them in the first few hours.

However, I kept hiking at a slow and steady pace (I kept telling myself that I was the turtle and would make it by not giving up) even though there were definitely thoughts in my head of just giving up and going home (though I probably have too much pride for that, given that my life wasn’t in danger). One thing that helped me stay in the fight was water. Because the trail ran parallel to Bubbs Creek and perpendicular to smaller brooks that fed it, every time the trail got near any water, I would lower myself and cool myself down. At first, I would only wet my arms and hands, but later on, I would wet my arms, legs, face, head, and neck. The water was cold enough to cool me down and give me a sustained increase in energy, and I think this saved the trip for me.

Regardless of how I felt, however, I could not ignore the giant mountains of granite that sat all around me. Their immensity dwarfed me and all I could do is to continue my hike in awe.

My first chance to stop and camp was at Junction Meadow. But, despite how pretty the meadow looked, I knew how many bugs would love to feast on me. My legs also felt good, so I trudged on. When I got to Vidette Meadows, the equation wasn’t so clear. I had hiked for 8+ hrs over 14 miles and I was indeed tired. My lack of sleep from the previous night (3 hrs) was telling me that sleep and rest would be nice. However, I was stubborn. I really wanted to see the sunrise of the Kearsarge Pinnacles over the Kearsarge Lakes. So I kept on.

I regretted not stopping at Vidette Meadows just a few minutes into the switch backs that followed the intersection of the John Muir Trail and Bubbs Creek Trail. The mosquitos, which had slowly been dissipating, came back in full force. This meant that even though I was tired, I could not stop to rest, or my legs would be eaten alive. I just trudged on when I wanted to rest, and was actually surprised that when my body craved rest, I didn’t actually need it--I just kept chugging forward. I ended up getting to Kearsarge Lake a few minutes after sunset and I was able to setup my tent and heat up water in quick fashion.

The meal that I had, Mountain House Mexican-Style Adobe with Rice and Chicken, was delicious and I can’t remember a better tasting meal in my entire life. Getting to experience this level of satisfaction with food has to be one of the highlights of backpacking.

After dinner, I took a quick look at the distance and elevation gain for the next day and I fell into a deep slumber that I usually do not get on the first night of backpacking trips.

I opened my eyes around 6:15 am, and knew that I had missed the sun rise striking the tips of the Kearsarge Pinnacles. Still, I was glad that I had slept deep, and for around 9 hours, which is unusual for me. Usually, on the first night of backpacking trips, I don’t sleep well as I adjust to the altitude. I guess the best medicine for sleep is just being extremely fatigued.

I packed up everything and was on the trail by 7am. I skipped breakfast as I wasn’t feeling very hungry. Instead, I planned for a nice siesta near Rae Lakes for lunch.

I made quick progress and was back on the JMT in no time. The trail then started gaining serious altitude on its way to Glen Pass. I struggled, but made steady progress, and after a sustained push, I was at the top of Glen Pass. I continued on without rest, and the progress down the opposite side was slow and steady, as my feet were tired and I wanted to be careful to not too much stress on my feet. I was then at Rae Lakes.

I found a great spot near Upper Rae Lake, and enjoyed the views while I cooked lunch. For lunch, I had a Pork Pad Thai from AlpineAire, which was... disappointing. Still, I ate every single bite. At this point, I stared at my map was trying to figure out where I would camp for the night. When I started this morning, I was sure my destination was Woods Creek, but I started to feel that I could get there around 6 or 7, giving me almost two more hours of day light. So I thought, maybe I’ll hike until 9pm and get to Upper Paradise Valley.

With this new goal in mind, I put my pack back on my shoulders and started hiking. At this point, I knew that I had completed all the difficult inclines, and that I would only be going downhill. I made great time and the lakes seemed to fly by me—Middle Rae Lake, Lower Rae Lake, Arrowhead Lake, and Dollar Lake.

Until this time, I had almost no mosquitos, but past Dollar Lake, they started to come back in small batches. I hiked to Woods Creek, and crossed the pedestrian-only suspension bridge. This bridge shook and moved with every step I took, but with a death-grip on the hand rails, I made it across without too much issue. I took a moment to cool myself down next to the creek and headed off to Upper Paradise Valley.

During this portion of the hike is when I started to daydream about going all the way back to the parking lot. Basically, my legs felt great and although the idea of doing a 30 mile hike with an almost-30lb pack would have sounded insane to me before the trip, here I was having completed 15 miles, and knowing that I could probably do another 15 if I just kept going. I also wanted to set a personal record for distance hiked. I had done a 22 mile hike the previous year, so why not go for 30 a year later? I mean I’m sure soldiers have various wars have camped even longer distances carrying larger loads, so why couldn’t I do this? What I told myself was that I would evaluate how I felt at Upper Paradise Valley and if I felt good, that I would keep going. Given that I might hike in the dark and for another 7-8 hours, I started recharging my headlamp, AirPods, and phone.

After the sunset over Paradise Valley, I arrived at Upper Paradise Valley. With my headlights on, I crossed South Fork Kings River. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to cross it without getting my feet soaked. I didn’t pay too much attention to it, and decided that even if I were to get a blister, it’d be worth it. I had initially planned on a hot dinner, but I wasn’t too hungry and kept hiking.

The last 10 miles went by pretty fast. The best parts about hiking at night was the cooler temperatures. The worst part wasn’t scary animals (didn’t see any eyes looking back at me), but rather the moths that kept being attracted to the headlamp. Actually, the worst part of the last 10 miles were the insane amount of mosquitos. I had expected that they would be sleeping, but these mosquitos must have bitten someone who had lots of caffeine in their systems earlier in the day, as they bit my exposed legs at every opportunity. I also had to deal with noises that sounded like people, but they were just my imagination playing with random sounds. One of the memorable moments on my night hike was seeing the moon rise over Paradise Valley. It was almost a full moon, so it was beautiful seeing the moon flood the valley.

I made it to my car around 2:30am, and felt amazing. Nothing was broken with my body, and besides hot spots near my shoulders and lower back (pressure points from my backpack), I felt good. My original plan was to sleep in the car, but I felt so good, that I took a caffeine pill and started driving home. When I stopped for gas around 4am, I felt how much I had pushed my body, but again, nothing crazy bad. I got home around 8am, took a long shower to clean myself, and fell into a deep slumber.