Clearwater, Summit Lake & Rooster Comb (Summit Lake Tie With Clearwater) — Monday, Jun. 30, 2025

Well let me start by saying this is not your typical summit lake hike. We are all used to a gradual incline and nice wide easy trail. The Fairfax bridge is closed and wanting to visit my favorite lake I looked for another way in. Off of Forest road 7220 you will find the Clearwater trail. This is an old abandoned trail. It’s easy to navigate at times and you will lose the trail many times. There are several log jams to navigate and you must be comfortable climbing things and finding your trail again. There is a key here. The trail with natural take you down to an unnamed pond and celery meadows but at the left bend in the trail you can see a faint trail going to the right. Take this and and it will eventually take you to trail 1177a Rooster Comb (I believe that’s the trail name). Now is where the fun begins. You will find more trees down for sure. The trail is harder to find but some kind souls have hung pink and orange take that should keep you on path. There are many steep ups and down along this route as you reach rooster comb peak. Be careful in your footing. There are some nearly vertical drops here. We brought ropes, harnesses, and helmets just in case based on old reports but did not find the need to use them. Again, know your own skill level and proceed with extreme caution. At rooster comb you can get some peek a boo views of Coundly lake below. I heard there’s a steep fisherman’s trail below and that the fishing was good. Next time!  We are going to summit lake. After navigating the two steep sections of the rooster comb it’s just a steady uphill climb up to the ridge above summit lake. It’s steep but not dangerous again. Whew we made it!  Lake is beautiful as ever. Fully melted out. We were the only ones there. We were going to get going at 6:30 am and spend the day at the lake but I found a tire shredding rock and oh crap no key to the lug nuts. Luckily a kind soul drove us out and to the tire shop. We rented a truck and returned to change the tire. We started out hike at 1:30 pm. 4:30 arrival at the lake. Spent one hour and hoofed it out at 5:30 returning to the truck at 7:30. Return the rental and home at 10pm. Long day but worth it!  Bring a high clearance vehicle, know your limits, and enjoy!