Pear and Emerald Lakes
Located in Sequoia National Park, Pear and Emerald Lakes are in a class of their own. I actually think it's prettier than any of the lakes in South and North Tahoe; however, it is slightly more crowded than some of the Desolation Wilderness Lakes because of the frequent day hikers and since it's so incredible.
My trip in a nutshell:
Travel Month: Mid June
# of Nights: 2 (there is a two night maximum stay on this location)
Permit Required. Yes (see below)
Side Trips: Pear Lake
Notes: Do NOT take the Hump Trail- it will be one of the worst decisions of your backpackn life. TAKE THE WATCHMEN TOWER TRAIL. I cannot stress this enough, I will explain why below. As for mosquitos, they weren't a problem until the very last day we were leaving. They must have hatched nearby, because they swarmed us and essentially chased us out (psh fine we were leaving ANYWAY).
Where/How to Purchase the Permit:
During COVID, the permit process has changed and this is actually good news for people who do not live in the immediate area. Past procedures made people show up the DAY BEFORE they wanted to travel and request a permit. This meant that you needed to find a place to stay until you hiked up on your entry date. This honestly made it harder for non-locals to go due to the unpredictability of whether or not they could get a permit and trying to figure out where to sleep that night. Anyway, here are the instructions to purchase and obtain a permit for Pear and Emerald Lake:
Open the application form and fill in the following:
For line 1: Enter in your 1st choice for the entry date (e.g., June 14); Entry Trail = Pear/Emerald Lake; Enter two days after your entry date (e.g., June 16; remember theres a two night limit); Exit Trail = Pear/Emerald Lake.
For line 2: Enter in your 2nd choice for the entry date (e.g., June 15) Entry Trail = Pear/Emerald Lake; Enter your desired exit date (June 17); Exit Trail = Pear/Emerald Lake. The rangers will attempt to assign you to one of these two choices.
Enter the number of people you want to go (the less people you put, the greater the chances of getting accepted)
"Number of stock animals" = 0.
"Is this a guided/organized group?" = No
Enter your home address in the space provided.
Send your application via email to: seki_wilderness_reservations@nps.gov
You will likely hear back from them within a week about whether or not your permit was approved. They only have a certain number of permits they give out at a time. The earlier you book the better your chances are for getting a permit. Reservations require payment of $10 per permit, plus $5 per person. If your application gets approved, you will get an email with instructions on how to purchase your permit, the directions are fairly self explanatory. You will also recieve a phone call from the local Ranger within a week of your departure date. Just make sure you answer the call from the following phone number: (559)565-3341. I added this number in my phone ahead of time so I knew to answer it when they called (I'm full of good ideas :).
Trailhead Information:
Address: Wolverton Trail Head (Also known as Alta Peak Trail Head). The trailhead itself doesn't seem to have a solid address, so click here for the location which is essentially just the end of Wolverton Rd in Sequoia National Park.
Parking: Extended overnight stays are allowed for those backpacking in Sequoia National Park. The parking lot is huge and you should not have a problem finding parking regardless of the day/time.
Trail Information:
Miles Roundtrip. 12
Elevation Gain. ~2,913 ft (this is a HUGE elevation gain just fyi, which translates to a lot of uphill).
Level. Moderate
I made a huge mistake on this hike-in by using the Hump Trail. I would never recommend doing this and that's why I'm just going to discuss the Watchmen Tower Trail to hike-in and using the Hump Trail to hike-out. The Watchmen Tower is still difficult and slightly longer, but is more scenic and a more gradual uphill ascend. The only somewhat sketchy thing to note, is that the Watchmen tower has a few parts of the trail that is extremely narrow and on a cliff.. so use caution with this!!
In summary:
Use Watchmen Tower Trail to HIKE-IN (but be careful)
Use Hump Trail to HIKE-OUT
All of the following trail information is going to be based on using the Watchmen Tower Trail going to Pear Lake, which takes about 4ish hours:
Here's the hike up incline/elevation gain:
My Trip!
YAY FINALLY THE FUN STUFF!
This is in the beginning when everything was fun and our trail ignorance was at an all time high:
This was right when we FINALLY reached the top of the uphill, hence the only reason why I'm smiling:
So we actually ended up camping at Emerald Lake (our intent was to camp at Pear Lake) but it was getting dark and we were exhausted. Also check out my blog post about bringing dogs:
It was a little foggy on and off throughout the day, but still amazing nonetheless:
Here's a Marmet! This was my dogs arch nemesis, but I thought they were so cute and fluffy:
Pear Lake:
We made a side trip to Pear Lake, which was our initial destination but then Hump Trail happened. Pear Lake is about a mile from Emerald Lake and here's the hike over the Pear:
AND HERE'S PEAR LAKE SOOOOO PRETTY (and of course we brought floaties)! The water was pretty cold, but nothing a liquid blanket couldn't fix:
The pups enjoying Pear Lake:
Watchmen Tower Trail:
We took this trail on the way back and you can see it in this photo (the long walk way in the distance):
This is an up-close version of Watchmen Tower, if you look closely you can see Mike! This is super sketchy so please be careful if you decide to go out there:
