Glen Pass

This is early morning at the highest Rae Lake. I took this while climbing out of the lake basin and up towards barren Glen Pass, looking back from where we just came. We had camped the night before on the far shore. A few minutes of hiking after I took this shot we were above treeline. This shot was taken at the full 17mm perspective, so I hafta say, as usual: WARNING, OBJECTS APPEAR MUCH FURTHER AWAY THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE!

Dave and Buck celebrating atop Glen Pass with Rae Lakes in the background.

I was surprised at how few people we saw on our JMT trek, but if we were to see folks, often it was at the top of major passes where folks hang out for a while and enjoy the fruits of their labor. We lingered atop Glen Pass for quite a while, enjoying the warm sun, and then watched as a few tiny dots in the distance grew larger and larger and morphed into people. We shared their joy. You don't even need to wait and catch your breath on top of these high passes before you break out grinnin' from ear to ear! It's a great place to trade stories with others. Here Jim is surrounded by a bunch of women who gave him food the evening before down at Rae Lakes. It was a great time up on top of that pass, with fantastic views all around. This is the pass before Forester Pass (comin' from the north). The trail follows the that ridgeline on the left a ways before it heads back down.

It was a very steep switchbacked trail down to that unnamed lakelet at the base of the pass. This was taken with a warming polarizer and the bright day contrast is pushing the limits of Velvia film, but hey. Forester Pass lies in those huge distant mountains in the background, which is the Kings-Kern Divide and the borderline of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Despite the barreness of that little lakelet, it is filled with nice trout. Again, this was with my 17mm lens and it almost went fisheye here. The backsides of passes are always the BEST! YAAA!

Heading down Glen Pass.  We made it down, yay! It was a glorious day for hiking, not necessarily a great day for photography. We were in desperate need of a shower at this point, but we still had 3-4 days of serious hiking ahead, with the toughest pass yet to come.

As we continued down from Glen Pass, the JMT took us near Charlotte Lake, which is a really pretty lake IMHO.  I didn't even bother to take a couple steps off the trail here, I just snapped and hiked on. It's shots like these I'd rather use a Digital Rebel.

Hiking near Kearsarge Pass Trail Junction.

Descending Bubbs Creek

Vidette Meadow