Goal for the day: Rae Lakes or beyond

During planning and at various stages of hiking the PCT in July, I had flirted with the idea that I could make the hike from Onion Valley to Rae Lakes in a single long day. I had also thought about going to Rae Lakes at the end end of day 3 during my hike in July to camp at the lakes before exiting out of Onion Valley (this option was was very much earlier in the July hike when I wasn’t exhausted and desperately needing to get back to civilization).

But even before day 4 became a half day of hiking, I knew going up and over both Kearsarge and Glen Pass in a single day with a cold start after a month off the trail wasn’t going to be possible. And if I had made it closer to Glen Pass on day 4, stopping at Rae Lakes would be very early in the day. So, I had resigned myself to passing by Rae Lake during this restart.

But the short day 4 had left me in almost a perfect position to reach the actual PCT trail, climb the horrible Glen Pass, and camp somewhere at Rae Lakes.

But first I had to wake up and see the stars over Kearsarge Lakes. Beautiful way to water the bushes in the middle of the night.

Although the Sunrise wasn’t as great as the light from the Sunset had been, it was a nice way to start the day.

The short 2 mile hike to the PCT was pretty quick and easy with fresh legs. It helped that it was a level trail with only a slight downward slope for the whole way.

After a quick view of where I had descended from Forester Pass in July, I looked Northward and restarted my PCT Section H hike from mile 789.7.

When I passed by Charlotte Lake (where I was resupplied in 2020 by pack mules on my JMT trek) I took in the view, but then grew a little concerned about a band of smoke I could see through a gap in the mountains to the West.

While my July hike was fortunately not affected by any wildfires, I did learn after the fact that the area between Walker Pass and Kennedy Meadows had closed down due to a large fire that started (2024 SQF Lightning Complex). Fortunately, it had started well after I had passed through that area. I actually think I may had seen the start of that fire when I was at the top of Mt Whitney. Then, it was just a single column of smoke rising to the Southwest. That it had exploded into such a large fire so quickly is evident of how dry the area was and how you had to stay on your toes when hiking in the wilderness.

Before restarting this trek, I had carefully checked for fires and there was a small new fire to the far West of the PCT corridor in the general area. It was small, but I thought it might be the source of the smoke I saw on the climb up to Glen Pass. Fortunately, the smoke didn’t seem to be headed East towards me.

The climb up to Glen Pass was straight forward, but had a lot of rocky switchbacks that were hard to discern from below them. Pretty much the same as what I experienced climbing up to the pass from the North side in 2020. A lot of swearing ensued on the way up.

It was a great relief when I reached to top of Glen Pass. 11,926 feet!

It felt as hard as the previous climb from the North side, so I’d have to say that I hate Glen Pass no matter which way I climbed up it. 😀

I looked down the North side of the pass and saw the tarns right below the pass and then Rae Lakes down the slope to the right of them.

While I did take a break at the top, I did start the descent pretty soon. The descent was was easier than the climb up either side, it still was rocky and not much fun.

When I got a good look at Rae Lakes, I relished being able to see it with clear skies. During my JMT 2020 trek, the whole area had been filled with smoke from the massive fires that year, which was one of the reasons I hadn’t stopped to camp near the lakes that year.

I made my way around the upper lake and made my way to the east side of the middle lake which had a great view of Fin Dome. It wasn’t that famous, but was a prominent feature around the lakes and could be seen for quite a ways down the canyon towards Woods Creek.

I took a look at several campsites and picked one that was moderately private, but close to the lake and had a great view of Fin Dome and where the sun would set.

Then I jumped in the lake!

Granted, I was only one and a half days away from a night at a hotel and a nice shower to start the day, but that was a nice refreshing swim in a Sierra lake. It wasn’t too cold, nice and clear, and plenty of space to swim and soak in the water.

Then I rested, had dinner, and enjoyed the setting Sun.

Even if it came at the cost of an extra day on the trail, I was glad I was able to stop at Rae Lakes and enjoy a very nice Sierra lake to start this long stretch of trail.

Scorecard for Glen Pass (11,926 feet) after 2 times to the top:

Goal for the day: Success!

Day 5 – 7.75 miles – 9 hours 20 minutes
PCT section H – 26.5 trail miles out of 175.5 total miles

(mileage and time approximate and based on GPS tracks which may not be exact and include diversions from the trail)