2 June 2022
Congress Trail to Alta Trail to Trail of the Sequoias, then Lakes Trail to Pear Lake
(14 miles, +4,400/-2,200 feet).

My backpacking buddies were not going to arrive until this afternoon, so I started this morning with another day hike in the Giant Forest, this time starting at the Sherman Tree and doing a counter-clockwise loop through the forest.

Although the park was extremely busy yesterday, I had lots of solitude this morning. Arriving at 6am, my car was the second one in the Sherman Tree parking lot!

Along the trail is a log turned into a cabin that was used by a squatter to try to stake a claim to the forest long ago.

After my day hike, I drove back up to Lodgepole to drop off my car and then took shuttle buses up to Wolverton where I met MixMaster and ChiaGlyph. It was a lovely reunion, but I was greatly saddened by the news that MixMaster hurt his back and wouldn’t be able to join us.

So we said goodbye, and ChiaGlyph and I started up the Lakes Trail. It passes through forest as it climbs, and then after a couple of miles suddenly opens up to a spectacular view of the Marble Fork Kaweah basin.

The Lakes Trail is aptly named, because we passed several lovely alpine lakes.

At Pear Lake, ChiaGlyph found a foam roller.

As the sun started to set, I scouted tomorrow’s route. We will be going off trail through the Tablelands to get to the Kaweah-Kings Divide. I don’t expect it to be sketchy, but we’ll see.