Wolverton - Watchtower - Pear lake - Wolverton
- Distance: 21km | 13mi
- Duration (with breaks): 7h 30min
- Duration (only hiking): 5h 00min
- Route type: to the lake and back
- Start/end: Wolverton
- Highest point: Pear lake (2914m)
- Elevation gain/loss: 1078m/1097m
- Difficulty: moderate to hard
- When did we hike: end of August
Why this route?
While Sequoia is famous for the giant sequoia trees (duh), there is so much more to explore within this national park. I chose this hike because it offered splendid views of higher mountains and lakes. I definitely have a soft spot for mountain lakes 🙂 It is a great option if you only have a day in Sequoia NP and you’d like to spend it high up in the mountains.
How to get there?
The trail starts in the Wolverton parking lot, which is a 10min drive from Lodgepole. It is also possible to take a shuttle bus (0range) from the Accessible Sherman Tree Trail stop. This stop connects with another shuttle bus from Lodgepole (green). We drove there with our van since we wanted to start early and the busses would have taken way longer than the car drive.
So how was it?
The trail began with a steady climb through the forest. I was constantly alert for any sounds since I was still not used to hiking in a bear land. We spotted a few deers, but no bears, pheuw.
This trail has two options: via the Watchtower (closed during the winter) or via the Hump Trail. We chose the Watchtower option which promised an early viewpoint. True to the promise, close to the Watchtower (2735m), the path opened up to the first panoramic views.
From then on, the trail was exposed most of the time, so we were glad about an early start. From the Watchtower the trail leads along a steep mountainside until it opens to awesome mountain vistas. That’s what we’re talking about!
Soon after we reached the first lake – Heather lake. There are several shaded places to chill at the lake and hide from the fierce sun. No camping though.
We decided to skip Emerald lake and visit it on our way back, so we headed straight to Pear lake – our destination. The section between Emerald lake and Pear lake was my favorite, especially seeing the deep blue Aster lake with the views of towering peaks around us.
The best part of the hike was a quick dip into Pear lake after a climb in the heat. The water was still ice cold 🙂 After chilling at the lake for a while, we turned back and walked towards Emerald lake and then back to Wolverton.
I absolutely enjoyed this hike. The views were breathtaking, and the trail was varied the whole time. It was definitely the highlight of our stay at Sequoia national park.
Tips
- Take some type of navigation with you (offline map on your phone or paper map). There are no signs on the trail, except at the junctions between the different trails. A few times we lost the trail, especially on rocky sections where the path is not clear.
- Take sun protection as the trail is exposed after the Watchtower. We used a combination of sunscreen and sun hoodies, it worked really well.
- Take enough water and food. There are no places for refills, unless you filter the water from the lakes.