Joelle's and I left my Lake Forest, California apartment on Saturday morning at 5am. We drove straight to Sequoia's Ash Mountain entrance. We worked our way up the windy road to the Lodgepole visitor center. Here we got our permits and a picnic lunch for the trail.
The itinerary for this short weekend backpacking trip would be to start at the Wolverton trailhead and hike our way along the Lakes trail. It was decided that we would take the Watchtower cutoff for more scenic views. The trail would pass by 3 high altitude lakes (Heather, Aster, and Emerald) till we camped at the 4th lake and camp area: Pear Lake.
The trip would encompass 6.2 miles and gain a net 2,181ft of elevation. We started 12:45pm and it took us about 4 � hours to complete. We saw several deer and about 10-15 people during the entire trip.
We arrived at Pear lake around 5:30pm and after scouting out the area we choose a fairly secluded mark camp site not to far away from the solar restrooms. For dinner, Joelle made us some Tortilla soap from a dry mix. While I have never had this style of soup before, it made for a very taste dinner. Thank you Joelle! After watching a nice sunset drop down on the near bye mountain peaks, we relaxed in the tent awhile before sleep (ONLY sleep) took over and the night was done.
While we had planned for an early morning wakeup, our bodies had other ideas and we did not start down the trail till around 9:30am. We leisurely hiked down the trail, taking lots of pictures to capture the adventure on film (or computer chip).
After the hike, we found our way back to Lodgepole for souvenirs and some food. Then before heading back to Southern California, we stopped a mile or so down the road at the Giant Trees area to become one with the Giant Sequoias. One of the neatest things was walking through a recently cut hole in a downed Sequoia.
We arrived back in Southern California around 8pm. Then we succumbed to our bodies needs and relaxed in one my apartment complexes numerous spas.
To recap: Great View, even better company, which makes for the best date of my Life! Again, Thank you Joelle!!
