Milky Way over Rae Lakes - a photo on Flickriver

            Rae Lakes is an iconic spot on the Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. When I did a fast-paced trip through the area last fall, I scouted potential photo spots and found this angle which aligned the lakes and the Milky Way.

I returned in the spring when the mountains were still snowy.  I scheduled the trip around the waxing moon (40% at the time of this photo) so that compositing twilight foregrounds under nighttime skies wouldn't be needed. I carried an ice ax and microspikes because Kearsarge and especially Glen Passes were still under major snow. I was prepared for snow camping, but the temperatures were unexpectedly warm and only around freezing at night.

I spent two nights shooting this angle and exploring the surrounding areas. I was treated to a thunder hail storm and--for the first time in my life--an aurora.

Taken in: United States / California / Seven Pines (show map)

Taken on: June 1, 2025

Tags:

rae

lake

middle

lakes

glen

glenn

pass

kings canyon

national park

pct

jmt

pacific crest

john muir

trail

hike

backpacking

hiking

snow

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Groups appears in: • High Sierra • California more » • U.S. National Parks • Mountains • The Southwest United States • Landscape Exploration • Natural Landscapes Only • Explore This! (ONLY EXPLORED PICS) • *View Points* • Capture Nature / No human elements / No zoo or people shots • Landscape Astrophotography • Un-enhanced American West • Into the Night Photography • in explore • ~The View from Above (No AI, CGI or Small World) • ☆The Power of Now / Die Kraft der Gegenwart ☆ • Best pictures on Flickr • WONDERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN GENERAL.MARAVILLAS DE LA FOTOGRAFIA EN • EN ESTADO PLENO Y NATURAL « less

Camera: Sony ILCE-7RM3A, f/2.0, 10 sec, 20mm, ISO 6400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-7RM3A
Lens:	20mm F1.4 DG DN \| Art 022
Aperture:	f/2.0
Exposure Time:	10
Focal Length:	20mm
ISO:	6400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 26.8 (Windows)
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