The road to Summit Lake is rough. You should absolutely avoid the horrible road from Crescent Lake and use Waze or suggested directions from AllTrails user reports. However, the last few miles on the alternate route include a dirt road to the trailhead (on NF-380) which is very deeply rutted and has big rocks. I made it in a Subaru but I was on teetering on 3 wheels more than once and my passenger was gasping out loud.
The trail starts very gently – a nice walk in the woods past many ponds. At the turn-off from the PCT, the trail becomes very steep but easy to follow if you look for the boot paths and cairns. There is no water from this point. Have at least 2 liters with you for the climb up. Once you reach the false summit, I recommend ditching your pack and poles to negotiate the last .4 miles and 400′ gain. You'll want your hands free to negotiate around the gendarmes. There is a boot path to the right that shows a way around the spires – the ground is loose so be careful. Do not go to the true summit if you aren't comfortable with exposure and heights and are confident in your abilities. I would also suggest a small water bottle in a string bag type pack for the traverse. We went without water (having ditched our packs at the false summit) and were fine but it would have been nice to have a little for the summit.
There were hundreds of butterflies at the summit. It was magical seeing them swirling around together. They never paused long enough for a photo. Oddly, there were also several colonies of flying ants swarming over small rock piles. They didn't bother us.
Going down was slippery through the loose rock. If you have gaiters, bring them to keep the scree out of your shoes. I forgot mine and had to dump my shoes out twice. Again, keep an eye out for the cairns and occasional obvious boot path to find your way down. Using a GPS tracker is helpful.
We only saw a single PCT NOBO hiker all day. The solitude was lovely but note that this hike is very isolated and less trafficked than many more popular summits. Plan accordingly.
We were very dusty and it was getting hot when we arrived back at the trailhead. I highly recommend bringing a swimsuit and jumping in Summit Lake after the hike. It was a perfect ending to a fun day!
Responses
GREAT trip report, Melanie.
Question about the terrible road from Crescent Lake to Summit Lake. I’m thinking of taking my ’03 Discovery 2 there and camping at Summit Lake. When you say it’s terrible, do you mean impassable? A little 4×4 might be part of the adventure!
I haven’t checked out the road from Crescent Lake – I think it’s called 398. I’ve seen it written several places that it should be avoided at all costs. I think it’s passable in a Jeep or truck, but my 8.5″ clearance Subaru was not even gonna go look. Google maps and Apple maps want to route you on it, so it’s easy enough to find. Definitely report back if you go check it out.
I’m definitely going to check it out. I’ll report back!