Leon Turnbull Photography

I was up early again and on the trail by 6AM in the dark. I had 13 miles back to Road’s End, all downhill of course.

Along the way I would see the waterfalls on Bubbs Creek. I received a couple surprises as well. The first waterfall is right along the trail and it is the one everyone sees. Lovely Bubbs Creek Falls, 48 ft. high (shown here). From my research I had marked off a second waterfall. It was a nice one as well, about 35 ft. high. But in between I found two other waterfalls that were complete surprises to me. A 40 footer and a 107 footer! I don’t know how missed these in my research, especially the 107 footer. Go just a little bit off the main trail and what amazing things you can find. Almost all the waterfalls I saw on this 5 day adventure I would never have seen if I stayed on the trail the entire time.

I made good time hiking down the trail. For the first time on this 5 day trek I got blisters on my feet and it was due to the big rock steps I had to continually jump down. Dang it. I met the gnats at about 7500 ft. in elevation and they were very happy to see me again. Dang it. I almost stepped on another rattlesnake. Dang it. I got back to the car at 2PM, one and a half hours ahead of schedule. Back to Fresno for a pizza stop and then drove home.

Day 5 of Rae Lakes loop complete. It was an incredible journey in magnificent Kings Canyon National Park.

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