Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park: Twin Lakes to Silliman Pass

After a good amount of planning I was finally able to get out backpacking with my friends Rachel and Riley while I was still in California. Considering we were coming from three completely different areas in the state and had varying schedules, we did pretty good in planning a trip that would accommodate our time constraints.

We wanted to go to Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park since we all had either never been there or hadn't really explored the park much. We did our research and decided on going up the Twin Lakes Trail to Silliman Pass.

We were able to meet at the trailhead by about 6pm on a Friday and hike in the first stretch that evening. Originally, we planned to set up camp at the first designated site near a meadow about two miles in, but after hiking for a while, we didn't see any signs indicating the site and because it was dark, we couldn't see any semblance of a meadow. Although we knew we passed the site, we didn't want to turn around so we ended up finding an equally suitable site off the trail about a mile up farther than we had intended to hike that evening.

Since we were already closer to our next destination, we were able to take our time with our trek up to the lakes and then  the pass. The hike to the lakes was pretty moderate, surrounded by big trees and large patches of granite with water cascading down. Once we got up to Twin Lakes, we took a break at the larger lake to eat a snack and enjoy the view of the snow covered lake and shoreline.

While we were resting, another hiker passed by and told us that she had tried going up to the pass, but the trail was obscured by the snow, and after veering off into a relatively steep and rocky section, she decided to turn around. She wished us luck, we thanked her for the information, and shortly after she left, we went on our way to venture for ourselves. 

Like she said, there was a very large area where the snow blanketed all appearances of the trail and although there were several boot tracks, they weren't consistent and lead to different directions that were clearly not the right way. We wandered out a bit but didn't see the trail, so we went back to our last reference point, consulted our map, and pointed ourselves in the right direction. Once we connected to the trail on the other side of the snow patch, from there on, the trail was relatively snow free. The climb to the pass was steep, but the switchbacks on the trail were well graded so we made it up with relative ease.

The pass revealed the beautiful mountainscape of the Sierras, where we could clearly see dozens of the world-famous jagged peaks before us. We relaxed for quite a while, admiring the view, eating our lunch, and -- thanks to Rachel -- drinking a beer.

Once we mostly had our fill, we started our hike back down the trail and made it to our camp with enough time to make our dinner and get settled in the daylight. As night fell, we crawled into the tent to play cards and hang out for a bit before falling asleep. The next morning, we packed up and hiked out, said our goodbyes, and started our journeys back to our homes in different parts of the state.