When I first moved to CA in 2015, I had a very short bucket list of must-do hikes. Half Dome and Mount Whitney were pretty much it. I knew very little about other wilderness areas and parks, so I set out to do the most famous Sierra hikes within my first year of living here.

After I discovered the AllTrails app, my list quickly grew. How on earth was I going to have the time to do all of these hikes?

I knocked out my initial bucket list. Half Dome, in particular, quickly and easily took the #1 spot of my favorite hikes. You get to see two waterfalls, a quiet little valley, rushing river, big trees, and a breathtaking view of Yosemite at the top. Not to mention the hardcore feeling of using cables to ascend 45 degree angle granite. In 3 years, I’ve done that hike 5 times. And I guarantee I’ll do it again next year. Twice.

I’ve put that hike on a pedestal, but I have to say, I’ve found a trail that rivals my Half Dome. I can not decide what my #1 is anymore.

One of the hikes I had never heard any buzz about was Moose Lake in Sequoia National Park. I can’t remember how I came across pictures of it, whether it was AllTrails or a random blog, but I HAD to go there. The cross-country hike there seemed like it would be an adventure in itself, and the lake looked HUGE. All of the photos showed an endless, barren, alpine body of water, which is my favorite landscape.

The Lakes Trail gets you most of the way there. In 6 miles, you walk along the shear cliffs of the Watchtower, find serenity at Heather Lake, marvel at Emerald and Aster lakes, then at mile 6, you reach the end of the trail at the incredible Pear Lake. I don’t think I’ve seen so many alpine lakes packed into one day hike!

In the summer of 2016, I did the Lakes Trail. I thought Moose Lake was only one additional mile past Pear Lake. I started to explore.

Pear Lake looks like it is surrounded by mountains that are too steep and dangerous to climb. However, on the east-ish side of the lake, there is a way. I started scrambling up toward what I thought would be the top. It was so steep, and really tiring.

Once higher, another ridge appeared. Then another. And another. It was getting late in the day, so I accepted that the lake would never appear, and I headed back home.

Fast forward to this past August. The Ferguson Fire was burning, and safe outdoor options were limited. My lungs ached, and I was tired of breathing smoke. I had climbing plans for the weekend, but with all the smoke, I decided to find a hike deep in the Sierra with better air instead.

Time to actually try for Moose Lake.

I prepared more this time. I Googled like crazy and read every blog I could find. I realized it was actually two miles past the end of the trail, not one. I dropped numerous pins on Google Maps that marked the path others had taken. I pre-loaded someones recorded track from AllTrails. I took screenshots of topo maps. Moose Lake or bust!

I was worried at the start of the trail, as it was hazy. Hiking along the Watchtower and high above the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River gave a not-so-crisp view. It got slightly better as I put more miles behind me, and I tried not to think about it.

There was a cross-country team running the first two miles to Heather Lake, so the trail was really busy until that point. We saw fewer and fewer people at the next two lakes, then finally, just a couple of campers at Pear Lake.

We reached the end of the trail around noon, which was already much more promising timing compared to the first time I was there. Would I actually make it?

Two major obstacles existed at this point.

One: trail-finding. Two: weather.

I knew there would be isolated storms in the high country that day, and I had my fingers crossed that the small cumulus clouds that were starting to form wouldn’t turn into thunderstorms over a MY alpine lake :).

We started the hike up the cliff almost where I started up two years earlier. There are a few cairns to mark the path of least resistance, but in general, it’s up to you to find the safest ascent.

There is a tall peak to hike around. My mistake the first time I hiked it was going left of the peak, which looked easy. However, the shortest doable route goes right. We stayed right, and had success reaching the top of the first ridge! It gave a beautiful view of Pear Lake far below.

The next bit flattened out, but there were three gullies ahead. We’d have to pick the easiest looking one to scramble up. I consulted AllTrails, and we chose the middle one, which looked like the one a previous hiker had used.

There was some bushwhacking involved, and the path was steep. My legs were really feeling the climb, as was my cardio. We stopped several times to stay hydrated and to give our heart rates a break.

Once at the top of that ridge near the only tree around (this dead tree is a big trailmarker), we were about 1.5 miles from Pear Lake, and we STILL couldn’t see Moose Lake. I was still hopeful that we’d find it, especially after all the work we were doing.

We actually hiked downhill a little here, and found two more barren lakes. Even if we didn’t make it to Moose, at least we found other desolate lakes.

We hiked up the ridge in front of us, another steep, lung-busting climb. As I rounded over the ridge, the lake started to come into view a half mile below us.

I’ve never been emotional from a view before. I greatly appreciate everything I’ve seen in this world, but this moment was different. From the previous failure, to the hard work to get there, to the actual raw beauty of the lake, the whole experience was overwhelming.

The lake looked like something on another planet. The far side seemed to melt into the Great Western Divide, and I named it an infinity lake.

I was beaming as we descended that final half mile down the steep boulders that lead down to the lake.

We looked and looked, but couldn’t find anyone else there. In such a populous state, in a popular park, I had found a gem that no one else was visiting that day. What a feeling!

The west side of the lake was shallow, and even though it’s at over 10,000 ft in elevation, the water was WARM for an alpine lake! I HAD to go for a swim.

In the next hour, only two people appeared. The lake is so big, that they were tiny dots far away and didn’t take away from the solitude.

The clouds started to darken, and I could see sheets of rain in the distance. Unfortunately, it was time to go. I didn’t want to be on top of the ridges in case one of those showers developed into a storm.

We reluctantly hiked out, and had a few raindrops fall on us. They were refreshing and welcome! I was hoping it would make the air better, at least temporarily.

As soon as we were back down at Pear Lake, we were out of the clouds and back in the sun. We were surrounded by hikers and campers, and it was like being in a completely different populated wilderness.

I was still on a high for the hike back, and those final miles, which would normally be tortuous on my feet, were easy. 16 miles on cloud nine!

I had already started scheming for my next trip there before I even got back into town. I hate carrying heavy overnight packs, but this trail is worth it to backpack in and spend more than an hour there.

So, which hike is my #1? Half Dome packs such different scenery into one hike, with the cables as the cool-factor. But it’s crowded. Moose Lake has multiple alpine lakes, adventurous route-finding, and solitude. But it’s a lot of hard work to get there.

I’m not choosing one. I’ll just have to keep doing them both over and over and never stop enjoying the adventure!