We’ve been hiking with full packs the past couple of months in preparation for our upcoming six-day backpack trip in Yosemite, and this particular weekend had long been slated for a shorter practice excursion, a shakedown cruise of sorts to prove out both our gear and our ability. We’ve had a wilderness permit since February to visit Little Lakes Valley near Bishop, but concerns about still-melting snow and associated clouds of mosquitos had us looking elsewhere for destinations. Pear Lake in Sequoia National Park has long been on our list of places to go, and it rather quickly sprung to the top of our list of possible trips for this weekend – since the park does not take permit reservations in advance for Pear Lake, we figured we could simply show up at the ranger station at first light Friday morning and not be at a disadvantage getting a last minute permit. So, after spending Thursday night in a pricey but convenient motel room in Three Rivers, we arrived at the Lodgepole visitor center at 6:15am Friday to find three other parties standing at the locked doors ahead of us – once the rangers opened up the facility at 7:00, we found out only one of those groups was headed to Pear Lake, and we got our permit without any trouble. By 8:30am, we were at the Wolverton trailhead and ready to head out. The Lakes trail heads east from Wolverton, first up a gentle ridgeline before bending southeast and climbing through the Panther Creek drainage. About two miles from Wolverton, the trail splits off northward, splitting again after a short distance into two parallel tracks, the left fork continuing north to a 1,000′-tall granite monolith called The Watchtower, the right fork climbing more earnestly eastward over The Hump, a ridge separating Panther Creek from the Heather Lake basin adjacent to the east – the two trails reunite at Heather Lake, which we had targeted as our likely lunch spot. Beyond Heather Lake, the trail ascends around another intervening ridge before dropping into the Emerald Lake cirque, then ascending again around a third ridge before making a final climb to Pear Lake at 9,500+’ – all told, the trail to Pear Lake is nominally 6.2 miles (although the Watchtower route adds about 0.3 miles to the total distance) with some 2,500′ of elevation gain. Leaving Wolverton, we immediately felt the increased weight of our packs – the additions of food and extra clothing meant both our packs were now over 30 lbs., and we necessarily shifted our respective loads around within the first half mile, leaving Jane with about 28 lbs. while Chris carried about 35. Luckily, the trail gradient is quite moderate over the first few miles through very pretty forest. There were lots of hikers on this popular trail, most folks with day packs who were going further up the Alta trail to Panther Gap or Mehrten Meadow located south and east of our turnoff up the Lakes trail. We passed a nonchalant doe grazing along the trail, entirely undisturbed by the curious bipeds wandering by – she must be used to us. After turning north, the Lakes trail steepens a bit as it gradually climbs for a mile, emerging after two short switchbacks at the top of The Watchtower – its rounded crown, which is a steep scramble from below the trail to the west, appears as just a minor outcropping, until one realizes the vertigo-inducing sheerness of the drop on its north and east sides. Some other hikers took our photo here, and it was one of the most photogenic spots of the whole hike – this trail closes whenever ice and snow are present, so it’s a must-do in the summer. We continued east and south, first along the clifftops and then across more moderate slopes into the Heather Lake basin – we ate our salami-and-cheese lunch admiring the reflection in the water of the mountains above. We had taken our time on this hike so far as it was about 12:30pm when we got to Heather Lake – leaving about 1pm, we went even slower up to Emerald Lake (the trail passes below the lake to the north, but the views over the smaller Aster Lake further down the basin are marvelous) before exiting that cirque northward and rounding the ridge into the Pear Lake bowl. Here, the views east opened up and the last few hundred yards, though tiring at the end of our long climb under heavy loads, were some of the most enjoyable of the day. Camping at Pear Lake is limited to the ten numbered sites only – four are located west of the lake’s outlet while the balance are on the far side. Stopping briefly near the outlet for pictures of the stunning scenery, we wandered past and found only one site already occupied – having been told by the rangers to expect a full campground, we were astonished that we were the first party to arrive that day, given our very slow pace, but that left us with a number of campsite choices. We found #8 most to our liking – the furthest east, we were separated from the other eastern sites by some large rocks, and yet had a nice view of the lake below and some connecting slabs down which we could walk for water (the vault toilets are also conveniently nearby). A ranger was in residence at the station a few hundred yards down the slope, and she came by to check our permit, noting that the pesky marmots has already gnawed the grips of our trekking poles which we had left laying against a log while we had scouted campsites – we made sure to hang our gear 3-4 feet off the ground after that. After setting up camp, we lounged for a bit before cooking our dinner of mac-and-cheese with bacon bits added – it was heavenly, no lie. As the sun set later in the evening, the alpenglow lit up the walls of the cirque behind our camp and the east side of the bowl to the south, making for a glorious display of color to close out the day. A wonderful Day One of three…