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Trip Report

Summit Lake — Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
Mount Rainier with fall foliage from above Summit Lake

The road is full of super gnarly exposed rock and erosion for 6.5 miles, I strongly recommend against bridging a sedan to this trailhead. I was driving my Subaru Impreza (low clearance vehicle) and it was a truly harrowing experience that I would not choose to repeat, though I am experienced and intrepid with forest service roads in my little car. The 5 miles on NF-7810 are rough, and the last 1.5 miles on NF-7820 are even rougher and extremely narrow. My GPS estimated that these sections would take me 30 minutes combined, but for me they took close to an hour. I saw dozens of other vehicles, all of which were trucks and SUVs. I arrived at 6:00am to a few vehicles in the parking lot from the folks camping; the lot was nearly full when I left at 9:30am, and I passed many more vehicles on my way down.

As others have mentioned, the trail has lots of roots and rocks making the terrain more challenging than the stats would imply if you are prone to tripping or slipping. There are also some areas of mud and standing water in the trail, but they are not too bad. 

The highlights of today were clear views of a sea of peaks disappearing into the horizon, in your face views of Mount Rainier, and beautiful fall foliage. Get out here before the snow if you can (or choose another nearby trail, such as Tolmie Peak, if you need a smoother car ride). 

example of rocks and roots on the trail
example of rocks and erosion on the road to the trailhead
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