TR: Little Lakes (below Mt. Silliman)

[iHartMK]

After many years of looking at Little Lakes on the map, and from the summit of Mt. Silliman, I finally made it up there Saturday 7/8.
I went up Friday afternoon and got my permit. I hit the trail around 3:40pm and made it to to the unnamed meadow at the base of the "Silliman slabs" at around 6:00pm.
I found a pretty cool spot to camp that was on the south side of the unnamed meadow up on a rocky knoll. The mosquito's weren't as bad up there.
Saturday morning after coffee and breakfast and greeting a few dayhikers & backpackers heading up to Silliman, I made my way up towards Little Lakes. I was a little nervous about crossing the 3 creeks coming down from Silliman where they turn south and start Silliman Creek, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Once I was across the creeks I started heading up, keeping the creek that's coming down from Little Lakes on my left and the west ridge of Mt. Silliman on my right.. I got to see a decent sized buck laying next to a boulder. Besides that, It was fairly uneventful. A few patches of snow here and there, but nothing significant. Once I got to the lower Little Lake, I turned around and looked down from where I came. the views of the Valley are amazing from that point. I would love to camp there! I crossed the wide & shallow outlet of the lower lake and made my way up to the upper lake to eat my lunch and rest. It looks like no one has ever been up to these lakes. Mt. Silliman's west face is right there and standing proud! There were fish in the lake looking at me like they haven't seen many humans. It was a very cool place to be. After eating and resting, I went down the exact same way. Even got to see the same buck. Got to camp, packed up and hiked out and was back home in Visalia by 7:00pm.
I had been up on Mt. Silliman & Silliman Lake a few times in the past, along with most of the other lakes in that area. Now I am glad I can say that I finally made it to Little Lakes. Sorry, no pictures, I really need a new camera!
Has anyone else on here been up to Little Lakes?

[astrogerly]

I love Little Lakes. We went up in 2014 (as my first backpacking trip after I broke my back) at the recommendation of a friend who was a former SEKI Ranger. He's been there several times. Beautiful area and bonus for it being nice and quiet!

[zacjust32]

Went there on accident once. We missed the bottom of the slabs up to Silliman and kept going up the creek until we hit Little Lakes. From there we headed up the drainage and still bagged the peak. I want to go back and camp in the meadow north of the lakes up the hill towards Silliman pass, it looks beautiful up there.

[rhyang]

That sounds like a nice destination. I've been up Silliman in the winter / early spring several times, but never in the summer.