This was an awesome trip with two great friends in July of 2020, and we spent three nights at Jennie Lake.
The Jennie Lakes Wilderness is located inside the Sequoia National Forest. A “Wilderness Area” is a specific legal designation for federal public land that focuses on preserving that natural landscape through some stricter regulations to maintain the natural landscape. Most notable is you can only access these areas by foot, so there is no motorized or mechanized transport allowed, and you will not find any developed areas, roads, or amenities. It's great for anyone who wants opportunities for more primitive camping and recreation.
You do not need a permit for any overnight camping in the Jennie Lakes Wilderness, but you do need to fill out the free registration at the trailhead, which helps the rangers know where to help protect and maintain high use areas, or to help locate you if anything goes wrong. This area also connects to a lot of the backcountry wilderness in Kings Canyon National Park, but you will need an additional and separate permit from the National Park Service if you're heading there.
We started at the Big Meadows trailhead, which took about 30 minutes to drive there from Grant Grove Village, I would definitely recommend AWD. There was pretty ample parking and a vault toilet at the trailhead.
From the Big Meadows trailhead, you hike about ~2 miles until you reach the Jennie Lake Trail, and then it's another ~4.5 miles to Jennie Lake, with a total of about 1,400 feet elevation gain.
We started later in the afternoon and took a wrong (but scenic) turn towards Weaver Lake, so it added an extra mile or so, and then we ended up hiking the last mile or so to Jennie Lake in the dark. I remember the final pass being pretty difficult, steep, and boulder strewn, realizing later that it was called Poop Out Pass…which made perfect sense.
We set up camp the first night knowing we should be there based on the mileage and GPS and seeing some previously used campsites where we set up, but we didn't see the lake itself since it was pitch black. So we just set up and went to bed without a fire or dinner other than some snacks.
Waking up in the morning was incredible because we had no idea of the landscape around us other than a forest, and the lake was within 25-50 feet. It was pretty epic to wake up and see the lake with the sunrise, not having known what it looked like at all.
There are plenty of campsites and space around the lake, and we did not encounter too many other campers though there were a few. Lots of flat areas with soft dirt and duff for your tent, lots of trees for shade, and beautiful rocky outcroppings against the lake, really just a stunning place.
Black bears are definitely present in the area along with other animals, so please secure your food properly in a bear canister or by hanging properly in a tree.
The second day we went for a day hike to Twin Lakes which is about ~5(?) miles from Jennie Lake, and does enter into Kings Canyon National Park. The hike towards there was incredible, going though a beautiful forest, then down into this meadow with wildflowers blooming everywhere and green grass, and then up and into another cool forest. Unfortunately a storm came in just as we were within a quarter mile of the lake, and since the trees were getting thinner we wanted to mitigate any risk and hustled back down towards some more cover. It was pretty intense at times with lightning and rain, and there was some light hail at times but we waited out the storm and then decided to pass on Twin Lakes and head back to camp.
The third day we just hung around camp, went for a swim in the lake, and enjoyed the scenery. As much as I get out camping, I feel like I don’t just hang around the camp and enjoy the stillness as much as I should.
The final day out was pretty uneventful, in a good way – just slow, easy, safe. Naturally, once we made it back to civilization we found some delicious heavy food and housed it down like we were starved.
Overall it was absolutely beautiful, just the right amount of challenge, and we lucked out with some great weather (minus the one afternoon thunderstorm). I'd definitely recommend getting out here!
Camping should be fun, exciting, relaxing, and challenging. Here are a few friendly reminders for when you're camping to keep it an awesome experience for you and everyone:
- Please practice Leave No Trace principles
- Please use existing fire rings and campsites when available
- For any fires, you need a free CA campfire permit
- Please keep light levels reasonable and respectful, especially during late or early hours
- Please keep noise levels (particularly music) reasonable and respectful, especially during late or early hours.
- Please do not ever feed, approach, or disturb any wildlife.
- Store and secure your food properly from wildlife.
- Pack everything out, including trash (there is no trash service except yourself).
- For your poop, please have a wag bag available (preferable nowadays), or dig a proper cat hole at least 200 feet away from any water source, trails, and camps.
- Leave the place better than you found it (grab some extra trash!)
- Please do not cut trails or switchbacks, which can especially damaging to the landscape.
- Please do not disturb official trail markers or signs.
- Most importantly, kick your feet back and enjoy the camp, the scenery, and the company around you.
by Magna_Terra
1 Comment
Beautiful place.