The Rae Lakes Loop

BT on Bubbs Creek Trail

Z

Nearing the top of the pass...

Our crew atop Glenn Pass - the high point of our trip of 11,978 feet

Descending down from Glen Pass to Rae Lakes through the snow...

Descending down Paradise Valley 

We just saw a bear a few yards away from us before crossing this bridge.

Fun with fire light...

At Rae Lakes

When we were hiking along the PCT/JMT in 2010, as I came across the beautiful basin of Rae Lakes, I was struck with a tinge of remorse that we couldn't take the time to spend an entire day or days or weeks at this magical high sierra playground - but we needed to get up and over Mt Whitney before running entirely out of food.  Last June I had the opportunity to return to Rae Lakes and we spent a couple nights there - watching the granite change colors during the course of the day and encouraging each other to plunge into the frigid lakes as often as we could.

gettin' into the water...

We all swam to one of the islands in this lake.

The boys were totally exhausted from our elevation gain the day before.