John Muir Trail: Day 8

Day 8 took me over Glen Pass through the Rae Lakes and down along the South Fork of Woods Creek.  I camped on a ledge with a view a few miles shy of Woods Creek.  It was a relatively easy day of 9 miles with 1900 ft of climbing.  As you can see below it was mostly downhill.

My daily progress and major trail milestones can be seen at https://caltopo.com/m/DKGD, or on Google Earth using https://www.dropbox.com/s/9cy12lzxnuvatsa/2017.07.30_JMT_Actuals.kml?dl=0. The caltopo website is the best place to look to find the place name I use.

Day 8 elevation profile in yellow

Day 8 route in blue

The weather finally cleared up today.  I did not get a lot of rain, other than the night my tent flooded, but it had been overcast and threatening since Crabrtree Lakes.  Today the sun came out and the weather was more typical of the High Sierra.

After I climbed out of the cold damp hold of Charlotte Lake I headed toward Glen Pass.  Looking back toward Charlotte Lake you see Charlotte Dome.  It is hardly a dome anymore, having been severly carved by a glacier that would have filled this valley all the way up to Charlotte Lake.

Charlotte Dome

The climb up to Glen Pass takes you past two lakes.  The lower one was still partially frozen over due to the steep slopes around it.

I stopped to rest between the lower and upper lakes.  It was yet another idyllic spot.  There was a stream running past, I rested in the shade of a pine tree, there were widlflowers and birds singing.  I made a special effort not to take these spots for granted, knowing that they would be gone when I left the Sierra.

Lower Glen Pass Lake

The trail winds past the lower lake and the upper lake and the pass come into view.  The switchbacks snake up the left side of the pass as seen here.  The climb went by quickly and I was rewarded with a magnificent view from the top.  Later on in my trip someone asked me what I though the best part of the trail was.  I told them I had 1000 pictures of things I thought were the best thing I had ever seen when I took the picture.  In retrospect, of all the views along the trail, I think the view looking north from Glen Pass is the best.  Although I have to say, my pictures don't do it justice.

Glen Pass from Upper Glen Pass Lake.  There is a person up there.

The climb went by quickly. I was humming a tune that had been with me since Forrester. At the time I thought it was from a song I knew but I tried a couple candidates since I came back and none of them fit. At any rate it kept me going, one foot in front of the other.

Glenn Pass, just before I crested from the south side.

Looking south from Glen Pass you can see the upper lake.  The mountains on the left in the midground form the southern shore of the lower lake.  The mountains to the right of those form the southern shore of Charlotte Lake.  The mountains in the background are the northern peaks of the Great Western Divide.  The highest triangular peak toward the middle is Mount Brewer, 13,571 ft.

The view south from Glen Pass. Upper Glen Pass Lake in the foreground.

The view north from the pass took my breath away.  The smaller, unnamed lakes in the foreground, the Painted Lady Peak looking over the Rae Lakes.  Split Mountain and the Palisade Crest are visible in the background, although not yet prominent.  Still, they form a backdrop of seemingly endless peaks, an invitation to explore.

The view north from Glen Lake

I had intended to summit Painted Lady, since it looked like an easy climb on the map.  One look from the top of Glen Pass changed my mind.  It is a real mountain with 700 ft of elevation gain on loose boulders to reach the summit.   My legs said no.

Some snow on the north slope of Glen Pass.  Painted Lade (12119) mid field and Black Mountain (13291) in the back.

Painted Lady dominates the northern end of Rae Lakes.  It is much more colorful that these pictures show, even when I tried to crank up the color.  There are pinks and yellows that come though and there is no doubt where it got its name.

Painted Lady as seen looking north across upper Rae Lake.

The two Rae Lakes are separated by a narrow channel that slows the flow of water just enough for the two bodies of water to have different elevations and therefore be different lakes. This ended up being the deepest crossing I made for the whole trip. I emptied my pockets for this one. The water was well above my knees but the current was very slow.

The crossing between upper and lower Rae Lakes.

After the over the top view along the shores of Rae Lakes, the merely spectacular views of Arrowhead Lake are easy to take for granted.  The trail stays high along this portion of the trail and most people do as I did, stroll past with barely a look, perhaps pausing to take a picture.

Arrowhead Lake

This was the beginning of one of the best aspects of my trip.  Even though it was August and the snow melt was almost done, the rivers were still full and the cascades and waterfalls were booming.

The South Fork of Woods Creek between Arrowhead Lake and Dollar Lake.

Fin Dome dominates the skyline to the west  of the Rae Lakes all the way from the lower Rae Lake to Dollar Lake.  It juts out of the surrounding mountains like an improbable granite monument.

The South Fork of Woods Creek as it cascades down into Dollar Lake.  Fin Dome on the horizon.

Just a reminder that mountains are not stable.  As much as we think of rock as permanent and immovable, there are a multitude of reminders along the trail that mountains crumble, disentigrate and turn to sand...eventually.

3:37

The path forward was taking me down to the crossing of Woods Creek.  I borrowed the name Woods Hole for this place from someone else.  It is an appropriate name since you drop from 11,900 ft at Glen Pass to 8500 ft where you cross Woods Creek, and then have to climb back up to 12,100 ft at Pinchot Pass.  Pyramid Peak is the highest peak in this photo on the other side of Woods Hole.

Woods Hold from the trail looking north.

Sixty Lake Basin is another side trip that made it on to my list of future trips.  Here I got a glimpse of the creek that drains that basin to Woods Creek.

The creek out of Sixty Lake Basin.  A wet foot crossing.

I need a synonym for idyllic.  This was one of my favorite campsites.  I had a view of the mountains on the other side of Woods Hole, it was far enough off the trail that others could pass by without disturbing me, it was relatively close to water and it had trees.

Campsite above Woods Hole

Camp 8.  Woods Hole Overlook

I redid a lot of my gear in an effort to cut weight and volume.  I used an alcohol stove with a combination windscreen and pot holder.  The whole thing weighted about 11 oz without fuel and all of it fit inside of the cook pot.  It took a bit longer to boil water than a canister fuel system, but there were plenty of other things to do while waiting for water to boil.

My Kitchen

My meals were fairly repetative.  I had two breakfasts, the same lunch everday (but it had a lot of things) and three different dinners.  This was my favorite dinner of the three, polenta and peppers.

Polenta and Peppers

All pictures of Glen Pass
All pictures of Rae Lakes