Did a quick trip up to Sequoia this weekend. Hiked up the Lakes Trail, via the "Watchtower" loop, up to Pear Lake (the Watchtower is a pretty impressive climbing wall, and the trail from there to the lakes basin gives you great views of the Kaweah River drainage; definitely worth taking that loop). Camped there, then ascended the drainage on the north side of Pear Lake, traversed across the granite benches east of the lake, then gained the summit via the northeast ridge. Hiked down the Alta trail back to Wolverton. The air quality was near perfect. Had a crystal clear view of Whitney off to the east. Still some residual smoke in the fires in the Mineral King area, but they are not impacting the air quality in the region (at least based on visual inspection).
The ascent from Pear Lake was a fun class 2 climb that requires a little bit of route finding, and I have to say was much more enjoyable than the regular Alta trail. The summit block was a lot more interesting than expected. An easy scramble up, but there is some exposure so just a bit of pucker factor as you perch yourself on the summit block. The Lakes trail was pretty busy with people, and there were at least two dozen groups camping at Emerald Lake and Peark Lake. We had the summit to ourselves, and only saw three people going up the Alta trail Sunday on our descent.
Here is a shot from the summit that shows the air quality:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BXuCH5tB8hcc4YW19
