Basics
Itinerary
Trip Overview
We completed Rae Lakes Loop in Kings Canyon National Park in the counter-clockwise direction over 5 days in July 2019.
After an exceptionally heavy snow year, the high Sierra was in the grips of winter into late June. Creek crossings were at their max volume and significant snowpack remained at higher elevations. The early season conditions, coupled with altitude and large elevation changes, made it a much more demanding trip than it would usually be.
In the first 2 days we ascended from 5000’ to 12,000’, from Roads End to Glen Pass. The counter-clockwise direction is steeper than the clockwise direction, but it was exhilarating to reach the highest point of the trip and get all the ascent out of the way before descending to the stunning Rae Lakes at the end of day 2. Setting up our tents on the shores of these pristine alpine lakes, watching the Milky Way rise above the snowy mountains after dark, waking up to perfectly still reflections in the morning—the camping was unbelievable.
After a rest day at Rae Lakes, 2 leisurely and scenic days of descent brought us back to Roads End. The challenging terrain and remote splendor of the Eastern Sierra made this a trip of a lifetime, and rightfully earns this 41-mile loop its recognition as one of the most celebrated backpacking trips in the Sierra.
External Resources
Permit Reservations at Recreation.gov
Day 1: Roads End to Vidette Meadow
The winding CA State Route 180 into Kings Canyon had views of sheer canyons walls and layered mountains as we drove into the park early Wednesday morning. The permit station and trailhead for Rae Lakes loop is located at Roads End. If you have permit reservations like we did, you must arrive before 9 AM in order to not forfeit your reservation. We picked up our permit and the ranger gave the usual “Pack it in, pack it out” spiel and went over trail conditions.
The notable concerns were: (1) the north side of Glen Pass was covered in snow (2) the South Fork Kings River bridge above Upper Paradise Valley had been washed out since 2017 and fording the river at the current water levels was dangerous or impossible.
We were prepared with ice axes and microspikes for Glen Pass, but the river crossing was a huge uncertainty. We did some Internet reconnaissance before our trip and knew that at least one group had successfully crossed the river using a log upstream of the washed out bridge. Without seeing the log for ourselves though, it was hard to know whether it was a reliable crossing. We left the trailhead knowing that an out-and-back over Glen Pass instead of finishing the loop was a likely possibility if we couldn’t find out more information about the Kings River crossing.
Our plan for the first day was to camp at Vidette Meadow at an elevation of 9500’. Junction Meadow is also a possible first day camp, but we wanted to camp closer to Glen Pass so the elevation change for the next day wouldn’t be as rough. In exchange, we had a long first day. Five days of food, a bear canister, an ice axe, and a camera made my pack much heavier than what I was used to on previous overnight trips. Even with our lightweight and ultralight gear, our packs were around 30-35 pounds. Thankfully, water was plentiful along the entire trail. We only carried around 1L at a time.
The first 2 miles along the Kanawyers trail until the Bubbs Creek Trail junction were flat and sandy. We powered through this section to get out of the sun as quickly as possible. Soon after the trail junction, we crossed a large bridge. Then we followed the creek for a bit before switchbacking up to our first view of Kings Canyon. There was one (likely seasonal) crossing where we had to get our feet wet in this first section. After the switchbacks, the trail goes in and out of the trees as it climbs gradually up the valley. The mosquitoes were mildly annoying when we stopped for breaks. Except for the occasional glimpses of the valley surrounding us, this section of the hike until Junction Meadow was pretty monotonous and draining.
We got to Junction Meadow around 5:20pm. After a very uneventful glance at the trail junction sign, we decided to keep walking. There were a few hours of daylight left, plenty of time to get to Vidette Meadow. The final 2.5 mile stretch was another 1100’ of elevation gain. We were all pretty tired at this point, but the views as we climbed up the valley in the late afternoon sun were amazing. We stopped frequently for photos (and for breaks).
In the final few hundred feet of ascent to Vidette Meadow, we started seeing small patches of snow. There was little sunlight left by the time we set up our tent at Vidette Meadow. Once the sun went down, it got cold pretty quickly. It felt like the low 40s. Luckily we could still build a campfire since Vidette Meadow is under 10,000’. We huddled around the fire and I tried to eat as much of my Mountain House pasta primavera as I could. Despite all the hiking, food didn’t taste very good to me. I think I was feeling a little sick from the drastic elevation change that day. We all went straight to sleep after eating. I still have no idea what Vidette Meadow looks like because I was too tired to look around.
Day 2: Vidette Meadows to Rae Lakes
Day 2 of our itinerary was to hike from Vidette Meadow up to Glen Pass and down to Rae Lakes. It was only a total of 5.5 miles, but the altitude and heavy packs and carry-over fatigue from the day before made it the most challenging 5.5 miles I can remember. There was significant snowpack starting from around 11,000’ in elevation, which slowed us down even more. We used microspikes and ice axes to descend the north face of Glen Pass, where a slip without the ability to self-arrest could turn into a long slide down the exposed, snowy slope. Day 2 was physically and mentally brutal, but standing at the top of Glen Pass was easily a highlight of the trip. The whole day was packed with breathtaking vistas.
From Vidette Meadow, the trail follows the JMT/PCT north. We saw a lot more backpackers this day because the trails overlap. The trail switchbacks steadily in the initial section and there are great views of East Vidette mountain. After Charlotte Lake junction, the trail flattens out for a bit before traveling along the slope a few hundred feet above Charlotte Lake. There was a lot of snow on both sides of the trail here, so we stopped to practice ice axe self arrests.
Leaving Charlotte Lake and the tree line behind us, the landscape became increasingly rugged and barren. We felt adventurous trudging through the snow surrounded by icy blue lakes and craggy peaks. There was still 1,000’ of elevation and 1.5 miles to go. The incline here was gradual but persistent. The effects of the thin air were also hard to ignore. I literally would count 10 steps and stop to catch my breath. I don’t think I’ve ever been more tired while hiking.
Finally Glen Pass was visible ahead, a formidable wall of rock that separated us from Rae Lakes on the other side. The last part was a short but steep scramble up a face of loose gravel. There were technically switchbacks, but the footing here was pretty sketchy. Soon I was stepping on to the ridge of Glen Pass amidst a flood of emotions—exhilaration, exhaustion, relief. I set my pack down and enjoyed my first glimpse of Rae Lakes in the distance. To all of our delights, the lakes were snow-free. We sat for a long time and took in the view on both sides, greeting each wave of backpackers as they summited the pass.
Descending Glen Pass was fun, but more of the Type II kind of fun like “the next step I take might be my death but if I survive that was really fun.” The motion was: stab ice axe into the snow, stab hiking pole, carefully move feet, repeat. The beginning had deep, solid footholds, but the steeper parts later were made slushy by repeated sliding. One person in our group slipped at one point but was able to react quickly and self-arrest so she didn’t fall far from the trail.
Even though we could see Rae Lakes in the distance for most of the hike down, it still took quite a while to descend. The last part of the day was beautiful. We crossed a large snowfield that was fun to slide down and did several stream crossings. The trail then follows a ridge above Upper Rae Lake and the views of the lake from here are spectacular. After the trail junction to 60 Lakes Basin, we arrived at the strip of land separating Upper and Middle Rae Lake. There are many suitable places to set up camp here and we settled upon a rock shelf overlooking Upper Rae Lake and facing the Painted Lady. There were no other people in sight and it really felt like we had the whole world to ourselves as we watched the shadows creep over the lake and the mountains turn golden. No wind meant flawless lake reflections and cloudless skies meant we were in for a night of spectacular stargazing. Slowly the Milky Way became visible and arced across the sky above the Painted Lady.
Day 3: Rae Lakes
Our only plan for the day was to walk from Upper Rae Lake to another campsite since Rae Lakes has a camping limit of one night per lake.
(This is a trip report, but I can’t talk about Rae Lakes without telling this story. Feel free to skip past.)
At around 5 PM that day, we met Jennifer. It was a joyous moment of realization when we discovered she was a clockwise Rae Lakes Loop hiker. She was hiking solo and had done the log crossing that morning. We finally had a firsthand, up-to-date account on the crossing. At the current water levels a fall would be fatal, but the log was definitely there, dry, and stable. Shortly after, Chuan also joined us. He was another solo clockwise Rae Lakes Loop hiker and Jennifer had met him several times on the trail. It turned out to be a pivotal conversation for both sides. They were ill-equipped for Glen Pass and ended up borrowing ice axes and micro spikes from us, and we made our decision to continue the counterclockwise loop based off their report on the log. We were finishing the loop on the same day, just in opposite directions, so we arranged to have them leave the gear under our car when they got back to the parking lot.
Having lent our snow gear to Jennifer and Chuan, we were fully committed to doing the river crossing. The decision was made and it was a huge relief. The sun went down and we ate dinner with the best views and an even better Milky Way composition than the night before.
Day 4: Rae Lakes to Upper Paradise Valley
I woke up at 5:30 AM and the sky was already bright.
The remnants of the washed out bridge had become a landmark in its own right. It was humbling to stand there and imagine the river being powerful enough to wash out the bridge in 2017. All that stood between us and the developed campsites on the other side was this river. When the water is low, this crossing is easily fordable. When the water is high however, this crossing can singlehandedly make Rae Lakes loop impossible to complete, as was the case for all the hikers who chose to turn back at Rae Lakes.
The log crossing that people had been using this season was located half a mile upstream from the washed out bridge. A clockwise backpacker who had completed the loop in late June had shared GPS coordinates of the log’s location in the Rae Lakes Loop Facebook group. With this information, we set out searching for the log at the end of day 4, hoping to get the crossing over and done with. We estimated at most a 1 hr detour until we would reach the campsites on the other side.
Our estimate was laughably optimistic, for a number of reasons: (1) I had no idea trails were such a blessing until I had to go off trail. Besides the fact that we were moving in the general direction of the coordinates, we had no idea where we were going. Not to mention, rotting logs, marshes, multiple waterfalls, and overgrown bushes are a pain to walk through. (2) The bushwhacking from the counter-clockwise direction is way more intense than from the clockwise direction, which makes the log harder to locate. (3) Once the sun drops below the mountains, it gets dark really fast.
Long story short, we bushwhacked to the coordinates, crossed the river by the light of our headlamps, stumbled our way in the dark through the trees on the other side, and by some miracle managed to walk into an established campsite (with a fire ring?!). The craziest part of all this is that the “log” we used to cross the river was not even the right one. We followed the same coordinates, successfully crossed the same river, but used a different log jam than the one that every other Rae Lakes loop hiker had been crossing. To this day, it’s still a mystery to me how we made it across the river that night.
Day 5: Upper Paradise Valley to Roads End
Most of the last day was downhill, but there were some mild ups and downs in Paradise Valley.
Rae Lakes Loop was my first multiple day backpacking trip and there was not a single point on the trip where I wanted it to end. There is something so healing about being in the wilderness. Being cut off from the outside world forces us to be mentally present and savor the time we have with the people around us. Every person on the trail was so open and willing to help each other because we were all out there sharing the same love for the outdoors. The range of emotions we experienced while backpacking were intense yet primitive: the relief of dipping sore feet in cold water; the aching of every uphill step at the end of a long day; the comfort of massaging warm backpacking meals with cold hands; the fear of dying, multiple times. The grandeur and simultaneous mercilessness of nature are humbling and a reminder of how privileged I am to be able to have this experience. To quote my friend: “Sometimes you go looking for adventure and find a little bit too much.” Turns out a little bit of adventure makes for the best stories.
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