Tablelands via Moose Lake
2024-10-19
Day 0
I woke up around 05:45 in Santa Cruz CA, got out the door around 06:00. I picked up my buddy in Corralitos and we were off by 07:00. After some pit stops and picking up our wilderness permit at the Kings Canyon Visitor Center we were on trail by 12:45. The Alta Lakes Trailhead was pretty popular judging by the amount of groups we saw on our way to Panther Gap, even in late October.
The trail to Panther Gap was fairly moderate, starting at 7,280ft and ending at 8,520ft. It took us about two hours to hike the 1,240ft over 2.8 miles. From the Gap we took in the beautiful high sierra mountains, The Great Western Divide of the southern sierras stretching seemingly endlessly before us. We took a snack break and contemplated our next step. We had planned to do four nights, taking the route south and then east along the High Sierra Trail. But at the last minute we decided to camp early and make for Moose Lake in the morning via the unnamed pass above Alta Meadows.
Looking south from Panther Gap towards the Middle Fork Kaweah River valley.
The Great Western Divide.
We finished the day hiking the trail to Alta Peak and then continuing on to Alta Meadow. The meadow itself was mostly dry in the cold October air. There were pools of stagnant water that had frozen over. We opted not to filter from the silty pond and used what was left in our hydration packs for dinner and drinking. There was a small running stream maybe a quarter mile West from our camp spot that we filtered water from in the morning.
Alta Meadow looking East.
Day 1
We slept in, since we did not expect to cover many miles going over the unnamed pass above tarn 10800. There is an unmaintained trail from Alta Meadow to Moose Lake that goes over the ridge at 10,200ft, but we decided to go over the pass for some fun and views. It's a fairly steep climb with a fair bit of bushwhacking. The chaparral wasn't too dense and we made it to the granite slabs and talus easy enough. After some slabby sections we tried sticking to grassy ramps up the slopes to the tarn at 10,800ft. Route finding was not too difficult.
Looking up to the unnamed pass, East of Alta Meadow.
We made it to the top by 14:20. We were greeted with excellent views of Tablelands and the surrounding mountains. As a bonus there was an amazing quartz deposit with some beautiful crystals.
Tarn 10800 below peak 11,328ft.
Quartz crystals at the top of the unnamed pass above Moose Lake.
Moose Lake was our original intention, but as we looked down from the pass the small tarns to the north seemed like a much easier and convenient descent. Before descending we explored the saddle between the two 11,300ft peaks, admiring the views of Tablelands and The Great Western Divide.
Tarns above Moose Lake, our new destination.
Exploring the saddle between peak 11,300ft.
We got down to the lakes above Moose Lake around 15:30. We explored the space, watched a beautiful sunset and went to bed early to escape the cold.
Watching the sunset at the Moose Lake tarns, gorgeous.
Day 2
Even though it'd be easy to exit from Moose Lake, we decided to noodle around the Tablelands before heading to Pear Lake. We followed the ridge line around the Tablelands, circling counterclockwise at the 10,800ft contour. We peeked into the valley to the North just West of Long Meadow Canyon.
Looking North from Tablelands to Long Meadow Canyon. So many possibilities.
From the ridge of the Tablelands we descended the easy terrain to Lake 10559 just North of the big granite dome 10695. The amount of granite in this section was incredible. I felt small next to the giant plumes that were formed 100 million years ago. The meadow below was idyllic and beautiful.
Looking down at lake 10559.
Found a big boulder I had to hold up.
Looking West down the Tablelands meadow.
The terrain wasn't too difficult to traverse. We stayed North of the small stream from Lake 10559. The granite slabs sometimes got steep, but we stayed on the gradual slopes and only had to scramble a few times. We mistook a stream for our easy access to Peak Lake and quickly realized we had stayed too high while making our way down the canyon. It was an easy correction, but ended up doing more up and down than we wanted. We should have stayed low along the creek to the tributary at 9,600ft. Either way we managed to reach the beautiful Pear Lake by 15:30. The high route to the East of the lake was quite steep and hard on the ankles, but easy enough to navigate.
Looking North East towards the saddle from Pear Lake to Tablelands.
Arriving at Pear Lake.
Pear Lake alpenglow.
Pear Lake is a heavily trafficked destination, it has pit toilets and everything! When we arrived we were the only ones for bit. Another group arrived after some time but that was it. I imagine in the summer it's quite crowded, in late October is was very peaceful. Just us, some pikas and a very noisy coyote at night. We dined on our dehydrated meals and enjoyed the pristine serenity. We got an early start in the morning, burgers and beer strong in our minds. The hike out was easy trail miles. We opted for the trail to The Watchtower which was the right call. The view to the valley thousands of feet below was spectacular.
The Tablelands area of the Sierra Nevada is an easily accessible route that is gorgeous and while it can be done in a day or two, taking a few days to enjoy the peaceful fall air is highly recommended!