Trip Advice - Rae Lakes Loop via Sixty Lakes and Rae Col

[lmartire]

Alright, thanks!

I did some more research and Dragon Lake sounds like a great and somewhat secluded day trip!

I updated my CalTopo route to include a trip to the first few Gardiner Basin lakes (Wandering Daisy's great picture finished convincing me!) and another to Dragon Lake, and to remove Baxter Lake from the main route.

While maybe Basin Notch is not that great, I was thinking that at least a stroll on the mostly-flat Sixty Lakes area would be nice. Perhaps the North part of Sixty Lakes is not worth the detour?

For now I am setting camps at ~10km in (Paradise Valley), 30km in (Arrowhead Lake), 40km in (mid Sixty Lakes, allowing 10 more km of lightweight day trips that day and sleeping at the 50km mark), and finally at 65km (Bubbs Creek).

I am expecting a highway traffic on the JMT at that time of year, hence the avoiding of the Rae Lakes camps, except Arrowhead which seems kind of inevitable.

Kearsarge Lakes is definitely another route I want to take, from Onion Valley. It will be either another trip, or this very trip if the access to Kanawyers is not fixed by the summer.

[ohlol]

Kearsarge Lakes is definitely another route I want to take, from Onion Valley. It will be either another trip, or this very trip if the access to Kanawyers is not fixed by the summer.

perhaps when you do, I suggest spending time at bubb's creek. when I was there it was pretty busy, but I found this campsite next to a ledge hanging over the creek at just the right height to dangle my legs in the water. it was almost perfectly exposed to the sun for most of the afternoon. I spent a whole afternoon on that rock like a lizard.

it was so nice! it almost made me forget about the fact that i'd left my bag of tent stakes back at tyndall creek that morning

edit: Just looked at your route and saw you're walking by it farther west...great! I haven't been over that way, maybe some day soon..

[richlong8]

Thought I might jump in and say Dragon Lake is worth the grind uphill if you value solitude. Quite beautiful in its own way. Gardiner Basin is one of my favoritr trips of all time. I think i posted a report. I need to revisit.

[wsp_scott]

Your updated Caltopo map makes it look like you are thinking of Arrowhead to Dragon to 60 Lakes (and the notch) and Gardiner Lakes all in 1 or 1.5 days. That is a lot of hiking without much time to enjoy the actual destinations. Obviously you should hike your own hike, but I would prioritize a couple destinations and not try to do everything.

I very much liked the stroll though the Sixty Lakes Basin and the Rae Lakes are popular for a reason. I've heard great things about Dragon Lake but always thought of it as a camp location vs. run up the hill and check it out, ditto for Gardiner Basin. And sleeping in Sixty Lakes vs Rae is totally the way to go. But Rae Lakes is not totally swarming with people if you avoid the weekend and is a spectacular place to set up camp.

[oleander]

All the places you mention - Sixty Lakes Basin, Gardiner Basin, Baxter Lake, and Dragon Lake, (as well as Kearsarge Lakes) are very nice. Both Sixty Lakes Col and Rae Col are fun and not too bad.

Of the lakes you mention, besides Rae Lakes, Kearsarge Lakes will be the busiest; followed probably by Dragon Lake, only because that one is just not all that far from Rae Lakes.

Gardiner Basin will be the most remote/least busy. The view from the top of Sixty Lakes Col is enjoyable enough. But I feel like it's a shame to go that far and not go into Gardiner Basin. In one day, you could easily get from the Rae Lakes area, over Sixty Lakes Col, down around the two upper "talus lakes," past about 3 very small lakes, and then from there drop down to a medium-sized lake with a spectacular view. You'll know it when you see it. Round the lake and camp by its outlet. I wish I remembered the altitude of that lake. But again, you'll know when you're at the "spectacular lake." There is no other path into the basin that doesn't go past it. Spend a night there and then backtrack to the Rae Lakes area. Then continue your trip. None of this round-trip into Gardiner is particularly tricky; I found it was a bit slow descending west from the tippy-top of Sixty Lakes Col, because it's a bit steep, and takes some thought to avoid Class 3, but there are definitely ways to keep it to Class 2. And overall the route-finding is pretty straightforward.