The calm after the storm....at Rae Lakes

The Painted Lady breaks thru the storm clouds to reflect beautifully on a tarn near our campsite in Rae Lakes

The crew at the start of trip, Onion Valley Trailhead

Hard to believe it, but this was our 5th trip together. We missed a few people from past trips (so sad to not have Saleem, Neel, Mike and Bob on this one)....Regardless, we've made some great memories over the years, and this trip was no exception! A quick recap of our trips: 1) Lone Eagle in Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO 2) Aspen 4 Pass Loop, CO 3) Cirque of the Towers, Wind River Range WY 4) Lake Nanita, RMNP CO 5) Rae Lakes, CA

Upper Rae Lake Island

On our Zero Day, we still hiked 5+ miles! Just didn't have to carry those massive backpacks for once :) We were treated to sights like this all day....caught some fish, met some great people, and even found our own little sand beach to go for a polar bear swim!

Darren reaching Kearsarge Pass at Sunrise

Highly motivated by the idea of real food, we awoke at 4am on our last morning to pack up camp and hike up Kearsarge Pass in the dark. We reached the pass at sunrise to enjoy views like this one looking Southeast towards University Peak. We had the pass all to ourselves, and enjoyed the calm for a few minutes before making our final 4 mile sprint back to the car. After a 6 day, 31 mile hike, we fully enjoyed our first meal back in civilization at Alabama Hills Cafe in Lone Pine.

Sunrise near Matlock Lake

Each and every day, I woke myself up early enough to catch sunrise....and forced myself to stay awake for sunset :) Sometimes a pain, but so worth it to get that good light! This was taken on our second morning looking East from our campsite near Matlock Lake. We had the entire lake to ourselves...so peaceful!

Bullfrog Lake from the "high" road

We stayed on the high road heading back towards Kearsarge Pass and were rewarded with some insane views looking down at Bullfrog Lake.

Bullfrog Lake Inlet

Camping is not allowed at Bullfrog Lake, but we were lucky enough to stumble across it on our 2nd day of hiking right before we joined up with the JMT. Camping isn't allowed at this lake (most likely to protect it from overuse)...and it's is truly a gem of a lake set in one of the most spectacular mountain settings. Would love to spend more time here someday!

Before the rainstorm above Kearsarge Lakes

On our last night, we camped at 11,300' so that we could get over Kearsarge Pass quickly the next morning. It's probably the highest I've ever camped...and we hoped for good weather because of how high we were. Thankfully, this storm passed just East of us and only delivered a passing rain shower. While everyone hopes for beautiful sunny skies....photographers like me secretly hope for some crazy weather because of how much it can add to a scene. Sunset was absolutely spectacular....like pink cotton candy strewn throughout the sky! Happy for the amazing light, and that we didn't get caught in a big storm above treelike :)

Nice backcast at Kearsarge Lakes!

This beautiful area was about 50 steps from our perfect campsite on night 2 at Kearsarge Lakes....and Darren quickly picked up the finer points of casting with a fly rod!

University Peak looming over Matlock Lake

This was taken about 10 steps from our phenomenal first campground at Matlock Lake. While the Onion Valley trailhead is one of the busiest in the Sierras...all it takes is a short hike off the main trail to find your own exclusive little slice of paradise.

Second time much better than the first!

We had much better weather on the way out of Rae Lakes....and made much better time getting up Glen Pass. Behind us is Black Mountain, and just to the left of me is Rae Lakes where we camped for 2 nights.

Darren and Kevin atop Glen Pass

Boy were we happy to reach Glen Pass! We had to stop below the pass because of some nasty weather that quickly moved in. We waited about 2 hours and then finally had a clearing, so we packed up and went for it. As soon as we reached the Pass, I looked West and predicted we had about 10 minutes before the next storm rolled in. Unfortunately, I was right and we got hammered with rain, hail and lightning on the way down. We stayed mostly dry and hurried down the Pass without any incident (thankfully!). That last stretch looking for a good campsite at Rae Lakes was kinda brutal, but we finally found ourselves a good patch of land and setup camp in one of the most beautiful areas in all of the Sierras!

Zero Day at Rae Lakes

We set aside one "zero" day in the trip plan to rest and recover once reaching Rae Lakes. It was awesome to not carry full backpacks and just explore our surroundings. The area didn't disappoint!

Flyfishing Success!!

I've been trying to teach myself flyfishing over the past couple years (thank you YouTube!)...and was excited to see if I could share this newfound wisdom with Kevin and Darren on the trip. Well, let's just say they picked it up quickly and were reeling in trout the entire trip!

Time to get on the JMT

We hiked along the famous John Muir Trail for a portion of our 31 mile hike. This is the junction where we finally met up with the world renowned trail :)

Looking West at the setting sun

This was taken that last night at our high camp....beautiful pink sun nearly setting behind the mountains, and providing for some excellent light conditions!

One selfie

Had to take one....mostly to remember how good I felt on that second trip over Glen Pass. Great weather, and a good pace and we were over the Pass before we knew it!

All smiles as we hit the JMT!

Had an awesome morning strolling down from Kearsarge Lakes, past Bullfrog, and then joining up with the world famous JMT! From here on, it was a lot of uphill until we finally made our way up and over infamous Glen Pass!

First Pass Done

Darren taking a look West after ascending our first pass (Kearsarge Pass) of the 6 day journey.

Bullfrog Lake Vista

Damn pretty spot...could spend a lot more time there!!

Still snow on Glen Pass in early September

A huge snow year meant there were still snow fields near the top of Glen Pass. Hard to believe after the last several years of severe drought. Good to see and hopefully more good years to come!

Beautiful Sunrise at Matlock Lake

University Peak catching the first rays of the day's sunshine...was a bit windy so no mountain reflections, but still some beautiful color found along the shores of Matlock Lake.

Dinner time on our first night!

Not a bad place to eat really terrible freeze dried food :) Washed it down with a nice red though!

That smile says it all

Kevin reaching Glen Pass! Felt good to finally get over that one!!