Wood’s Creek Trail. Photo by Jared Williams

Wednesday, 24 June, 2015. Upper Paradise to Rae Lakes, 6876 to 10538 ft in elevation gain, 11-12 miles. 

We left camp a little later than the day before at around 8:15am. In contrast to yesterday’s 7am start, it seemed very late, and it was already quite warm. A group of girls who had camped (but very quietly) at the campsite south of us had already left. We chatted with a couple of them yesterday and learned that they had made their way up to the lakes, but, at 10,000 feet, one of their group had gotten altitude sickness and they were compelled to turn back.

Foxtail Pine. Photo by Danny Dawson

This was our day. We would be heading up to Rae Lakes, but starting out at around 6876 elevation and stopping somewhere at 10,900 feet by the time we reached our campsite at Middle Rae Lake. In addition with the greatest elevation gain of around 3,000 feet, it would also be our highest mileage day, as we’d be hiking around 11-12 miles, all told.

We were all a little apprehensive about this day, worried a little about altitude. Danny had been taking Diamox, and felt generally fine, but Jared had suffered from a migraine throughout our first night, though he mentioned he was filling better in the morning. I felt fine and had slept like a log, thankful for the soothing sounds of the creek. No headaches or other weird physical ailments so far.

In contrast to the numerous sections of wooded, shady trail from the day prior, hiking along Woods Creek trail as we went up higher in elevation brought us out into more exposed segments. Though there was less vegetation overall, we also began to see lots of foxtail pines – amazing and hardy denizens of the area which are adapted to and even thrive in the harsher, stressful, constantly sun-exposed and low-water conditions at or slightly above the tree line. Some of them are very old – there are estimates that date some ancient trees at 2000-3000 years old! Danny was very excited about these trees and delighted in telling folks by pointing, and saying, “Older than Jesus!” This 5.6-mile stretch had few water sources, and Danny ran out of water before we reached the bridge.

Wood’s Creek Suspension Bridge

We crossed the suspension bridge, which I had been slightly apprehensive about. I had seen various videos of hikers saying “Oooh, this bridge is wobbly!” or “Oooh, there are pieces missing!” and I, for some reason, tend to get nervous as I traverse swaying pieces of wood and wire over wide chasms. Thankfully, it was not as wobbly or as nerve-wracking as I had thought, as long as I reminded myself to not look down at my feet and take in the beauty of my surroundings instead. (Certainly, it was nowhere near as terrifying as this wire-loop bridge we crossed in Laos 2 years ago.)

We hit the JMT! Photo by Danny Dawson

At the bridge we paused to filter water and have some lunch. There was a campsite there, and a bear box. This was also the site of the intersection of Wood’s Creek Trail and the John Muir Trail, and we began to encounter more hikers who were walking the JMT. We ran into two such women with whom we chatted a bit. They left Wood’s Creek before us and we were to run into them again as we approached the lakes.

Filtering water is time consuming. I made a mistake when the Sawyer filter and dirty bag started leaking into our clean water Platypus and so we had to stop filtering and resort to using AquaMira water treatment drops instead. From then on Danny instructed me to wrap a handkerchief around the segment where our the Sawyer filter connects with the dirty bag to prevent any more rogue drops from falling into the clean Platy.

Lunch today was more tuna fish in a packet and mini Ritz Cracker-and-Cheese sandwiches. The tuna tasted great but I didn’t like the crackers much. Though calorie dense, I think I’d prefer just plain Ritz crackers in the future. I had problems fueling on the trail, particularly while we were moving. Danny and Jared would just start munching on some bars, or candy, but I just didn’t feel hungry, or feel like taking out food to eat. But because I usually felt better and less tired when I did manage to consume something, I knew that I was not eating properly and that I generally should not wait until I felt hungry. Perhaps I’ll bring along some Gu on our next trip to see if that helps me get my calories in better. Gu is just about the only thing I can eat while running, too.

Beautiful little lizard friend

The trek to Rae Lakes after Wood’s Creek was long and hot. As we finally approached Dollar Lake, we ran into a woman with a pup, which we later found out was her service dog. We came across them as the dog had just plopped down off the trail. We chatted with her a bit and I watched as Remy (short for Remington) lay her head down, hid her face behind a tuft of grass and proceeded to fall asleep. It seems they had been hiking from Wood’s Creek since this morning, and the woman was astounded to hear that we had come from Upper Paradise. Remy, it seemed, wanted to stop every mile or so for water and a nap. I didn’t blame her. The woman was carrying around 60 pounds in her pack and she was further dismayed at hearing how much lighter (by half!) our packs were. She groaned, “I’ve clearly brought too much.”

Fin Dome from Dollar Lake

Flowers and JMT Gals at Dollar Lake

We reached Dollar Lake a few minutes later, where we took our first longish break since Wood’s Creek. From there, we could see Fin Dome in the distance, a marker that signaled that we were truly near Rae Lakes. We hoped that the woman and Remy would eventually get to Arrowhead Lake (not far from Dollar) that evening since it was a nice site for camp. We also hoped for both their sakes, that she would turn back. Dollar Lake looked beautiful and calm and idyllic. There were two men fishing and we relished the cool breeze as the waters lapped against the shores. We again spotted the two JMT gals who had been at Wood’s Creek. They had seen a bear, and had proceeded to tell every hiker they encountered afterwards.

Near Justephanie’s Million Dollar Campsite

We were aiming to find Justin and Stephanie’s Sunset-magazine campsite, and thought we had spotted it, but it was too small for two tents, and water access was a little sketchy through a marshy area. So we continued to trudge along. By this time it was late afternoon, and we didn’t get to select our final camp until about 4:30pm or so. Danny had loped ahead of us to scope out a spot. And it was nice.

Our campsite at Middle Rae Lakes

But because we had finished late, we didn’t have as much time as the day before to do a lot of laundry, or more thoroughly rinse off from the sweaty, dusty rigours of the day. I managed a little freshening up, and then put on my night clothes (Smartwool longsleeve shirt and Patagonia capilene leggings) since I thought I would want to wash off my clothing. And then promptly proceeded to get bitten (once) through my untreated Smartwool shirt. Looking up, one could see the clouds of gnats and mosquitos over our heads. Out came the mosquito headnets, and since it was also getting cool I put on my fleece jacket and stepped back into my treated hiking pants. Thankfully, nothing else bit for the rest of the evening. Danny and Jared escaped unscathed.

Best. Backpacking. Meal. EVAR. Photo of me by Jared Williams.

After this long day, my dinner of Budae Chigae (Korean Army Base stew), made with (decidedly non-Korean but exceptionally tasty) Indomie Ramen (Mie Goreng Satay flavour), and augmented with dehydrated surimi, veggies, dehydrated kimchee and a packet of Spam, tasted sooo exceptionally good, I might have moaned a couple of times. And vowed to always take Spam with us on future trips.

View from campsite at dusk

Our campsite that night, while definitely the most picturesque out of the 3 on the trip, was not quite my favourite. As we retreated into our tents, we didn’t have the lovely white noise of a swift-moving creek available to cut through the silence. The area was also crowded. While not noisy, there was clearly a feeling that a lot of people were around – we could easily spot various tents and groups in nearly every direction. As Rae Lakes is an area that is part of both the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails, I suppose that was to be expected. The insects were a little disconcerting, but not terrible. The upside – lots of rocks and boulders on which to perch and set our belongings, and we were in the midst of all sorts of gorgeousness. Also, apart from being a little dizzy if we stood up from crouching too quickly, there were no other signs (yet) of altitude sickness.

Rae Lakes Loop Posts

• Day Zero
• Day One
• Day Three
• Day Four
• Flickr Album