R05/R01 TR: Rowell TH > Jennie Lake > Seville Lake 7/2 - 7/4 2022
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:01 pm
While I generally prefer to avoid, say, super-popular destinations during, say, super-popular holiday weekends, I caved and planned a loop out of the Rowell Meadow trailhead to visit a handful of swimming holes with a pair of lake-lovin', casual backpackin' buddies. After a sweaty drive up from the dirty Dena, we arrived at SEKI's Sunset Campground and settled in Friday night to enjoy the sweet, sweet sounds (and, ummm, laser light shows) of what appeared to be a rave just a few sites over. Ahhh...feel the relaxation! Luckily, a couple of margaritas and sturdy earplugs allowed us a surprisingly decent sleep.
After scooping up our permit at the Grant Grove visitor center the next morning, we popped over to FR 14S11, where we drove past all of the places we could have boondocked for the night instead of being lulled to sleep by the absolutely dreamy combo of thumping bass and glow sticks, then arrived at the Rowell Meadow trailhead, home to one of the cleanest pit toilets I've ever seen in the Sierra. After paying our respects, we set out toward Jennie Lake.
While we heard a bit of gurgling right around the Jennie Lakes Wilderness boundary, that first branch of Rowell Creek vanished almost as soon as we caught a glimpse, and the rest of the creek crossings in the meadow area and along the traverse toward JO Pass were pretty anemic - great for bugs, not-so-great for many other things (bring a scoop or prepare to scout for spots with better flow if you're planning on gathering water at any of these). Still, it was a beautiful day - mellow temps, light breeze, and just about nobody else on trail. Delights!
Of course, that "nobody else on trail" situation changed once we arrived to Jennie. Still, we had no problem finding decent sites tucked away on the far northwestern side of the lake, which was thankfully mosquito-free. Given its popularity, I wasn't super surprised that the noise levels ratcheted up throughout the day, including a pair of barky dogs and a crew of college-age folks who were essentially talk-screaming at one another all afternoon, but once again, margs + earplugs x general exhaustion saved the day (or night, as it were).
The next morning, we hoped to pop over JO Pass, then climb up and over Silliman before setting up shop at either Ranger or Lost Lake. But..best laid plans. A variety of situations meant that we needed a site closer to the trailhead for an early exit on Monday. I wondered about going cross-country from JO Pass down to Seville, but didn't want to drag my poor friends along for the experiment should it turn south, so we backtracked along the once-again blissfully quiet path toward Rowell Meadow, savoring all of the tiny wildflowers and colorful butterflies and joyous birds and sneaky marmots along the way, then made our way to Seville, which was all but deserted. Rejoice!
The mosquitos were a little more party-hardy here, but truly not terrible. Even after our long, weird detour / change o' plans, we were able to spend most of the day lolling around by the shore, swimming, painting terrible watercolors, playing Farkle, appreciating the quiet, and decimating the remaining contents of our bear canisters.
During the hike out Monday morning, we found the return climb not nearly as bad as we imagined (even through that awful burn / beetle kill zone) and enjoyed one final loving gaze across Rowell Meadow before making tracks for some deeply satisfying enchiladas on the way home. All in all, another wonderful weekend in the Sierra, even if it wasn't the exact one I envisioned! Can't complain
And thus concludes my first-ever trip report! I hope it was ok!
After scooping up our permit at the Grant Grove visitor center the next morning, we popped over to FR 14S11, where we drove past all of the places we could have boondocked for the night instead of being lulled to sleep by the absolutely dreamy combo of thumping bass and glow sticks, then arrived at the Rowell Meadow trailhead, home to one of the cleanest pit toilets I've ever seen in the Sierra. After paying our respects, we set out toward Jennie Lake.
While we heard a bit of gurgling right around the Jennie Lakes Wilderness boundary, that first branch of Rowell Creek vanished almost as soon as we caught a glimpse, and the rest of the creek crossings in the meadow area and along the traverse toward JO Pass were pretty anemic - great for bugs, not-so-great for many other things (bring a scoop or prepare to scout for spots with better flow if you're planning on gathering water at any of these). Still, it was a beautiful day - mellow temps, light breeze, and just about nobody else on trail. Delights!
Of course, that "nobody else on trail" situation changed once we arrived to Jennie. Still, we had no problem finding decent sites tucked away on the far northwestern side of the lake, which was thankfully mosquito-free. Given its popularity, I wasn't super surprised that the noise levels ratcheted up throughout the day, including a pair of barky dogs and a crew of college-age folks who were essentially talk-screaming at one another all afternoon, but once again, margs + earplugs x general exhaustion saved the day (or night, as it were).
The next morning, we hoped to pop over JO Pass, then climb up and over Silliman before setting up shop at either Ranger or Lost Lake. But..best laid plans. A variety of situations meant that we needed a site closer to the trailhead for an early exit on Monday. I wondered about going cross-country from JO Pass down to Seville, but didn't want to drag my poor friends along for the experiment should it turn south, so we backtracked along the once-again blissfully quiet path toward Rowell Meadow, savoring all of the tiny wildflowers and colorful butterflies and joyous birds and sneaky marmots along the way, then made our way to Seville, which was all but deserted. Rejoice!
The mosquitos were a little more party-hardy here, but truly not terrible. Even after our long, weird detour / change o' plans, we were able to spend most of the day lolling around by the shore, swimming, painting terrible watercolors, playing Farkle, appreciating the quiet, and decimating the remaining contents of our bear canisters.
During the hike out Monday morning, we found the return climb not nearly as bad as we imagined (even through that awful burn / beetle kill zone) and enjoyed one final loving gaze across Rowell Meadow before making tracks for some deeply satisfying enchiladas on the way home. All in all, another wonderful weekend in the Sierra, even if it wasn't the exact one I envisioned! Can't complain
And thus concludes my first-ever trip report! I hope it was ok!