Photo: Paul Scudder Rae Lakes and the Kings Canyon High Country, Kings Canyon National Park, California Highlights:
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Trip Number: 09107A Price: $575 Deposit: $100 Capacity: 12 Rating: M Leader:
The Trip  Photo: Paul Scudder We enter the Kings Canyon high country from high on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, starting at 9,200-foot Onion Valley and crossing the Sierra crest at 11,800-foot Kearsarge Pass on our very first day. Eight days and 43 miles later, we’ll again cross the Sierra crest, this time over 11,300-foot Sawmill Pass, and exit by way of the seldom-used Sawmill Creek trail. In between, we stay high to sample some of the very best of the Kings Canyon high country. We’ll cross 11,942-foot Glen Pass, with expansive views in all directions, and journey alongside the Sierra crest for most of three days on a beautiful section of the John Muir Trail. We’ll camp in spectacular Rae Lakes and Sixty Lake Basins, where we’ll take a layover day to relax or explore or perhaps climb a peak. With a little luck, we may even find the remnants of one of pioneer fur-trapper Shorty Lovelace’s cabins. We’ll camp above 10,000 feet every night but one. Join us if you seek the adventure and wonder of hiking a high, mostly-on-trail route through some truly spectacular scenery.
 Photo: Bill Flower Our hiking schedule is not rigid. How far we get each day and where we camp depends on how we feel, the weather, and other factors outside of our control. There may be portions of the route that were not scouted by the leaders before the trip – some additional scouting may be required during the trip. Flexibility is important. The itinerary described here should be taken as a general plan, and the actual route and schedule may well depart from this plan. Day 1:Our trip officially starts at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, when we will meet at a campground near the Onion Valley trailhead. Campsites will be provided for this night. In the morning, we will serve an early breakfast and prepare to start our hike. Days 2-3: After breakfast, we will drive to the trailhead, where we will begin the climb to Kearsarge Pass. The distance is not great (about four miles), but we will ascend nearly 2,700 feet with our heaviest packs of the trip, so we will take it slow and easy. From the pass, we will continue another two miles to Kearsarge Lakes, where we will make our first camp. Our second hiking day will be very short – we will hike barely three miles – to help our bodies continue to adjust to the altitude. We should reach our camp at Charlotte Lake before lunch, allowing time to relax or explore in the afternoon.  Photo: Bill Flower Days 4-7: For the next four days we head generally northward, hiking parallel to the Sierra crest on the John Muir Trail. On the first of these days we climb 1,600 feet on the John Muir Trail to Glen Pass, the high point of our trip at 11,942 feet. This early in the season, we’ll quite possibly be walking on snow at the top. Then we’ll descend the north side to spectacular Rae Lakes, where we’ll camp surrounded by wondrous views in all directions. We continue the next day to cross over a low ridge to still another beautiful lake basin, Sixty Lake Basin, where we plan to take a layover day, staying two nights. Here there are countless opportunities to explore or just to relax by one of the many lakes. Some may choose to climb Sixty Lake Col for a grand view into Gardiner Basin, while others may explore the higher lakes on the eastern slopes of Mt. Clarence King. We have a choice of routes for exiting the Basin. The easiest option will be to backtrack to Rae Lakes to rejoin the Muir Trail. Alternatively, we can take a relatively straightforward cross-country route – actually, now a use trail – through Basin Notch to Arrowhead Lake on the Muir Trail. A third possibility would be to hike cross-country downstream in the Sixty Lakes drainage until we intersect the Muir Trail. No matter which route we choose, we will continue north on the Muir Trail and camp somewhere along Woods Creek. Days 8-9: On our next-to-last hiking day we will continue on the John Muir Trail to the Sawmill Pass trail. Here we’ll turn east and climb to lovely Woods Lake, where we’ll enjoy our last night in the high country. The final day we continue climbing over Sawmill Pass before descending 5,400 feet along Sawmill Creek to our exit trailhead.
Our trip officially starts at 5 p.m. on day one when we will meet at a campground near the Onion Valley trailhead. Onion Valley is located a few miles west of the town of Independence, CA, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, about 225 miles from Los Angeles, 240 miles from Las Vegas, 245 miles from Reno, or 340 miles from San Francisco. Trip members arriving from other parts of the country should explore the option of flying to one of these major cities and sharing a rental car or arranging a ride. We will send a trip roster to all participants well before the trip in order to help facilitate ride sharing. Specific driving directions will also be sent before departure.
We will plan a diverse and appealing menu to accommodate both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Responsibility for cooking will be shared among the trip members. Our first meal will be dinner the evening of Thursday, July 16, and our last meal will be lunch the last day.
 Photo: Bill Flower The overall trip is rated M (moderate). Do not be deceived by the word “moderate” – high-altitude backpacking is physically demanding. A disciplined training and conditioning program will be necessary to achieve the required very good level of fitness. We plan to hike six or fewer miles on all days except the last day, when we will hike 11 miles, mostly downhill. Altogether, we will hike about 43 miles, almost entirely on trail. Our greatest elevation gain comes on the first day, when we will climb about 2,600 feet on a well-graded trail to cross Kearsarge Pass. Two subsequent days will also have elevation gains greater than 1,500 feet. The total elevation gain summed over all moving days will be about 8,200 feet. We will descend 5,400 feet on the last day of our trip. Except for one segment on the sixth and seventh days, we will be above 10,000 feet from the morning of the first day until the morning of the final day. The high elevation of the hike also contribute to the difficulty of the trip. In years with high snowfall, late-melting snow on the high passes may also make hiking more difficult. Participation in this outing requires that you be in shape, have backpacking experience, and have reasonable expectations for the trip. Very good aerobic conditioning is essential. Our objectives are to enjoy some spectacular country and to complete the trip safely as a group.
A list of suggested personal equipment will be sent to all participants. (If you would like the list before signing up, let the leader know and he will send you a copy.) Each person should keep the weight of personal gear below 25 pounds so that, with the addition of approximately 15 to 20 pounds of commissary equipment and food, total pack weight will be less than 40 to 45 pounds at the start. We will provide all food and cooking equipment, although you must bring your own eating utensils. Some of the group equipment is relatively bulky, particularly pot sets and bear canisters. Your pack should be sufficiently large to carry an item about the size of a full paper grocery bag (alternatively, four or five one-gallon milk jugs) in addition to your personal gear. A couple of additional remarks on shelter and rain gear – although Sierra summers are generally relatively dry, you still must be prepared for rain. For shelter, tents are strongly encouraged, and lightweight waterproof tarps are the required minimum. Where possible, we will help participants contact other trip members who want to share shelters. For clothing, you should bring a waterproof jacket and rainpants rather than a poncho.
Please plan on bringing your own map and compass—not only is this a matter of safety, but you will have a better appreciation of where we are going and where we have been. Maps: Maps covering our route include:
Books:
Conservation The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines “wilderness” as “an area where the earth and its community are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor.” This important act first established the National Wilderness Preservation System, originally protecting nine million acres of national forest lands. Today some 106 million acres are encompassed by the system, including the John Muir Wilderness and the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness, where we will be “visitors” for most of our trip. The magnificent wild lands of the Eastern Sierra are home to over 35% of California’s native species, 200 endemic plants and unique animals, and some of the most spectacular scenery and recreational opportunities in the world. Upwards of 90% of the land in the Eastern Sierra is public land managed either by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the U.S. Forest Service. However, although much of the high and mountainous portion of the Eastern Sierra, such as the region we visit on our trip, has been designated as Wilderness, the vast majority of these Eastern Sierra public lands still do not have Wilderness designation. This land where the desert meets the mountains deserves diligent protection. In recent years, local volunteers, working together with conservation organizations, have developed modest proposals to permanently protect the remaining wild gems of the Eastern Sierra. These areas were included in a bill first introduced in 2002 by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer – the California Wild Heritage Act, which seeks to protect remaining wildlands across the state. More recently, the Eastern Sierra Rural Heritage and Economic Enhancement Act, introduced in April 2006 by Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon, seeks specifically to protect Eastern Sierra Wildlands. This bill contains nearly one-third of all the lands in the statewide Wild Heritage bill. This Outing is an excellent opportunity to consider the impact our own visits have upon the wilderness and to compare this with the ideal that we would like to achieve.
See the How to Apply for an Outing section for more details on registering for this trip and details about our Reservation and Cancellation Policy. The payment of a deposit does not confirm you as a member on the trip. Participants must be approved by the trip leader. After signing up for this trip, you will be sent a confirmation packet containing approval materials (Participant Approval Questionnaire, Medical Form, Liability Release Form). Each applicant (including those on the waitlist) must fill out these forms and promptly mail them to the trip leader. The leader will review the approval materials and notify you of your acceptance in a timely manner.
Leader:
E-mail: flowerbill@aol.com Assistant Leader:
General Notes About Sierra Club Trips
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Bill Flower was born in the East but moved with his family to Arizona when he was ten. Bill took his first backpack trip – in the Grand Canyon – when he was eleven and his first trip in the Sierra Nevada when he was twelve. He has been hiking in California and the West ever since. A real highlight of his summer for some twenty years has been participating in Sierra Club National Outing trips, both as a trip member and as a leader.
David Roberts clearly remembers the moment of stillness and solitude
when, at age 12, he first became entranced with the wilderness. His
first Sierra Club outing was in 1969. Since 1977, he has led or co-led
private backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada and elsewhere. He began
leading for Sierra Club Outings in 2001. The wilderness keeps drawing
him back year after year; he especially delights in visiting remote
lakes and canyons far from the distractions of civilization. When not
working for the local Environmental Health Services, or clearing
overgrown brush in his yard, he enjoys writing, photography, and
playing the classical guitar. Fits of laziness don't last long for
David -- his dog demands a daily hike on the trails adjacent to his
home in the Santa Cruz mountains.