Had a great time last weekend with my son,Ocean, and two friends that I met though bpl,Michael "Sawchuck"and Craig"Castro"Wisner.Good guys, by the way. We went to Sequoia National Park and parked near Lodgepole.Headed up to Moose lake and had my first cross country experience. What a trip it is to go off trail. We got to Moose lake just as it was getting dark. Beautiful lake and amazing granite mountains. Next day we headed to the tableland meadows and camped there for one night. Then we headed back to the car and headed home. Here are some photos of our trip.
Hiking to moose lake
Ocean chillin'
Me somewhere on the way to Moose lake
Moose lake
Craig and Michael.
TAble land meadows
Ocean Being a trooper
Aster lake
Hope you like the shots.

Josh

Joshua,
That's great country. I took my oldest son and two friends into Tableland in late September, 2001. We started from Wolverton TH and went in via Heather Lake, Emerald Lake and Pear Lake.

It was only a week and a half after 9/11 and it was very quiet with only military aircraft, and the Bin Ladens flying. We only saw three people while we were there, the Pear Lake Ranger, A wrangler taking supplies to the Ranger, and a photographer.

I hope to go in there again. Maybe a little earlier in the season. It snowed a bit. Your photos show that you had great weather.

Thanks for the great pictures Josh!!!!!

Denis,That was the same route we took. After the Pear lake ranger cabin we went straight to moose lake. We didn't go through the table land meadows first.
Jay, Thanks for reading. You inspired me to write this little number up. Photos are the best.
Josh

Joshua,
That's a piece of cross country work. Especially the drop to Moose Lake. I'm looking at National Geographic Topo and Google Earth, as we speak. What a great trip.

I'll post the maps for future reference. I'd been up there two other times: once climbing Tokopah Falls; the second time we went through the meadows but couldn't reach Moose because of snow in mid-Nov. I'd been plotting our trip since then and this has been my first chance at shouldering a pack since my awful accident going over the bars of a mountain bike in July.

The area is a wonderland of backcountry route finding. On day 2, we scouted passage to a route that creates a loop: trail from Wolverton to Pear, backcountry through the Table Meadows and over and into Fergeson Creek, following that North till it connects with a trail system that loops back to LodgePole. NEXT YEAR!!

BTW, props to Craig for sportin' his new "Castro" avatar.

Edited by uberkatzen on 10/31/2008 00:35:29 MDT.

It was a great trip guys...I've been daydreaming about those lakes, peaks, and sunsets all week.
Until next time...

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=36.61759437881153&lon=-118.63826751708984&site=hnx&smap=1&marine=0&unit=0&lg=en

Oct 31, 2008:
Overnight: A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 27. South wind around 21 mph. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Saturday: A 30 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 31 by 10am, then falling to around 23 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Saturday Night: Snow. Low around 19. Wind chill values as low as zero. Windy, with a southwest wind between 23 and 31 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Sunday: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 27. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 15 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15. West northwest wind between 9 and 14 mph.

Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28.

Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13.

....and so the Sierras move into the Fall shoulder season. And I can’t wait to go back!

Edited by uberkatzen on 10/31/2008 23:09:06 MDT.

Nice stuff- Jealousy!!!!