Thankfully, our efforts of the past few days had now placed us in a position where we could enjoy a short hike of just six miles up to Rae Lakes. Though it too was overcrowded at some times of the year, it is that way for good reason, being one of the most beautiful spots in the Sierras. As we were now in the weekend before Labor Day, most summer tourists had cleared out of the backcountry, and we had seen just one other party at Woods Creek. We properly suspected that there would not be too many people at the lakes.
We got a good nights sleep the night before in the relative warmth (about 35') at the lower elevation of the crossing (8,547'). Amazing as it may be, with all the hyperbole going around, we still had not seen or heard a bear anywhere in the backcountry on the trip. From this point forward there would be bear boxes at all of our camps.
The hike to Rae Lakes, though short, still involved a climb of 1,200 vertical feet up an exposed, dusty trail, and we were pretty tired by the time we reached camp at 11:30. True to our predictions, there were not many people at the lakes, but it was obvious that the place could be a real horrorshow in the middle of the summer - there were campsites everywhere! On the trail that day, we met a woman who had hiked the trail and would be celebrating her 60th birthday on top of Mt. Whitney (a.k.a. Birthday Girl). An inspiration to us all.
It was a sunny day, albeit quite windy, and we took advantage of our free afternoon to do some laundry - everything but one pair each of Smartwool socks, having learned our lesson at Evolution Valley.
Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, the very precise, perfectly coifed Rae Lakes backcountry ranger walked into our camp: "Hello, I'm Rick, and I'm your Rae Lakes Backcountry Ranger," he said. I've never met a backcountry ranger quite like him, and I was almost expecting him to hand me a wine list and tell me about the nightly specials. "Hi there, I'm Kent, and I'm your Rae Lakes camper," I replied. We used the occasion to tell him about our experience with Canteen Man up on Mather Pass. "Oh, that's John," he said rather matter of factly. It seemed that the rangers were monitoring John's progress through the range. He actually had a valid wilderness permit, and was intending to go from Keersarge Pass to Mammoth Mountain - about 110 miles. The latest update was that he was going out of the mountains at Bishop Pass to resupply - he was living on a steady diet of nothing more than white flour!
As the sun went down at Rae Lakes, the evening light put on a wonderful show as it reflected off the distinctive Painted Lady peak and Fin Dome, both of which tower over the lakes. Julian and I darted back and forth along our side of the lake to view the alpenglow from different vantage points and to try to capture the moment on both film and video. I also had some enjoyable moments playing my harmonica, as I used to play often but now only seem to ever break it out when I'm in the mountains.
Photos: Foxtail Pine on Trail to Rae Lakes; Fine Dome over Middle Rae Lake
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