Bearhead Mountain and Summit Lake Fall Hikes

A beautiful day today! We drove up to just before the Carbon River Entrance at Mount Rainier National Park, and crossed the bridge over the Carbon River to head up to the Clearwater Wilderness Area to combine two hikes that share the first 0.8 miles of trail. The Bearhead Mountain Trail is 6 miles round trip with 1,700 ft of elevation gain. Summit Lake with Loop Hike is 6.1 mile round trip with 1.300 ft of elevation gain. By doing both hikes (and not returning to the trailhead in between), our hike today was 10.5 miles with 2,600 ft of overall elevation gain. A great hike with fabulous views, lots of gorgeous fall colors and a beautiful lake, along with lots of interesting fungi.

The trail started climbing uphill through the forest and we soon entered the Clearwater Wilderness. We started seeing fall color right away.

At 0.8 miles, and 400 ft of elevation gain, the trail reached Twin Lake and a T junction. To the left, Summit Lake and to the right, the Carbon Trail and Bearhead Mountain. We headed toward Bearhead Mountain first.

 Although the sun was toward the east, we could see Bearhead Mountain behind Twin Lake.

 It was chilly this morning with frost on the ground. The next section of the trail gained 600 ft over 1.4 miles.

 Before the turn off to Bearhead Mountain on the Carbon Trail, we could see Mt Rainier to the south.

 The side trail up Bearhead Mountain gains almost 600 ft in 0.8 miles, the trail goes up both sides of a ridge in a series of switchbacks. We enjoyed the views of Mt Rainier along with the fall color as we hiked up the trail.

 Lots of fall color!












More fabulous views of Mt Rainier.

Panorama from the trail: The top of Bearhead Mountain to the left (the whole ridge line is Bearhead Mountain) and Mt Rainier to the right.

 After 3 miles and 1,700 ft of elevation gain, we reached the top of Bearhead Mountain, with fabulous 360* views!

To the south: Mt Rainier, looking straight towards the Carbon Glacier.

To the west, we could look down and see Surprise Lake and the peaks around it,

and to the northwest, Summit Lake with the ridge line surrounding it (our next destination).

Looking toward the east, the rest of Bearhead Mountain and Mt Rainier (to the south)

We walked part way along the top ridge line of Bearhead Mountain enjoying the views.

Panorama to the west from Bearhead Mountain. Mt Rainier to the south on the left, in the center the "top" of Bearhead Mountain, smaller peaks towards the right. We caught some glimpses of Puget Sound through the clouds, but were unable to see the Olympic Mountains today.

Panorama view to the north, we could see Mt Baker, Glacier Peak, Dragontail and Mt Stuart.

 zoom of Mt Baker in the clouds

 zoom of Glacier Peak above the clouds

zoom of Dragontail

zoom of Mt Stuart

We enjoyed all the views, especially those of Mt Rainier, before heading down the trail.

On the way down, it seemed as if we were walking straight towards Mt Rainier. 

We descended 1,200 ft over 2.2 miles on our way back to

Twin Lake,

 the colors were beautiful in the noon sun!














We next, hiked up towards Summit Lake, the trail traveling both through the forest and open meadows. This section was about 1.5 miles with 600 ft of elevation gain.










View of Summit Lake from the east. We decided to go clockwise around the loop trail circling the lake along the ridge. This way we would go up the steep trail, 300 ft, and come down on the gentler slope.

Summit Lake from the south side.

 From the high point on the ridge, we had great views of Bearhead Mountain (to the left) and Mt Rainier to the right.

 We could also look down and see Twin Lake and part of the Carbon Trail where we were earlier today.

 Further north along the ridge, we were able to see  the south end of Summit Lake, Bearhead Mountain and Mt Rainier.












We found a nice rocky ledge to sit on, while enjoying the views and our lunch.












Panorama view of Summit Lake from the west side:

 Then we headed back around the other side of the loop, a nice gentle descent, with more fall color.

 Back at Twin Lake, a great view of Bearhead Mountain and it's reflection in the lake.

Lots of fabulous flora today, interesting trees, gorgeous fall colors, and a variety of fungi: