Summit Lake — Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024

The road up to Summit Lake is not for the faint of heart; this is my third time hiking this amazing trail and I white knuckle my way up to the trailhead in my RAV4 through multiple sections. My RAV does fine taking it nice and slow - I have seen a sedan up in the lot but not sure they make it without scraping along the way with huge rocks, potholes and divets for the last 3-4 miles to the trailhead - yikes!

Arrived to the parking lot at 10:45am on a Thursday with only 4 other cars and plenty of spaces in the lot. Took me about an hour to get to the lake, soaked in the amazing views of the clear bright blue water and the fall foliage on the hillside. Made my way up and around to the summit just before 1pm. Enjoyed my lunch for a good long while relishing in the view overlooking the lake with the mountain towering over it - I could have stayed here forever!! I take a million pictures along the way, eventually made it back to my car right before 3pm. About 10 or so cars parked with still room for more when I headed home.

It was a beautiful blue bird day today, the fall colors are out in all their glory. Beautiful bright red meadows, lots of yellows and oranges along the way. Tons of mushrooms. Plenty of chipmunks and I heard pikas in the rocks, and beautiful birds but I didn’t see anything bigger or more exciting than that.

A few individuals I came across didn’t realize that you push past just a bit further at the top to the true summit for a bigger expansive view of Rainer and panoramic views - I could see the back of the enchantments, Mount Baker, and so many other peaks and layers! Definitely worth just a bit further at the top of you’ve never been. What an absolutely perfect day for this hike.