Hiking Summit Lake Trail

For Matt's birthday this year, he asked for a baseball game and a hike. The baseball game was easy; there was even a drone show after, so it felt extra special. Scott, Robby, and our friend Mason joined us.

The hike was harder, of course. Matt chose three hikes he's been wanting to do for awhile and was kind enough to let me choose the winner. I chose the easiest of the three: Summit Lake Trail near Rainier.

AllTrails claimed Summit Lake would be a 5.8 mile trail of moderate difficulty, an out-and-back with 1,400 feet of elevation gain. Our hike ended up being a 6.5 mile loop with 1,500 feet of elevation gain, but luckily it was truly moderate.

Mason met us at the trailhead a little before 2pm. The last six miles up to the trailhead could barely be called road. It was like driving through a dried up riverbed; this is precisely why we got an SUV! We knew the trailhead would be packed, but because we got started when the first round of hikers were finishing up, we got parking right at the top. Unfortunately, there was no bathroom, although the trail does have pit toilets when you get closer to the lake.

This was my first time wearing my CamelBak on a hike and it was a great decision. I had way more water and didn't feel like I had to ration it, plus Matt didn't have to carry my waterbottle.

The beginning of the trail had a bit of rock scramble, but soon we were hiking a well-packed dirt path. I really enjoyed this hike; the climb to the lake was gradual, and you're in the shade of the trees for the majority of it. (One of my concerns when I picked the hike was which of the options would have the most shade.) 

Just before reaching the lake, the trail winds through some hilly meadows, but you're still well in the trees.

We spent some time at the lake cooling off and eating. There were a few persistent flies that were quite annoying, but otherwise the bug situation wasn't too bad. Zoe went for a swim in her new life preserver. Next time we plan to do a hike to a lake, I will be packing my sandals; the rocks were really sharp and it made chasing Zoe difficult.

After we'd had enough time relaxing, we hiked back up to the trail and then up and around the lake. That was where the real views started. The view of Rainier was absolutely spectacular. It looked like a painting. It's hard to describe how cool it is to see all the details of the mountain from that distance. Photos really don't do it justice.

We spent some time just taking it all in. There were lots of campers set up around this part of the trail. The campsites are primitive—no fires allowed, no toilets, etc—but the view is unbeatable.

We completed the loop around the lake and back down the opposite side. The descent was steep in some areas and it was rocky. I had read that it's easier to hike the loop clockwise, but we were going counter-clockwise. It wasn't too difficult, but I would say this was the hardest part of the hike because you really need to keep your footing while descending on loose rocks.

Once we successfully looped the lake, we found the main trail in and followed it back out. We got back to the car around 7pm. All told, we spent about five hours out there, but of course we spent a lot of time just hanging out; Garmin says our moving time was about 3 hours, which aligns with what it says on AllTrails.

Zoe was tuckered out by the end, as usual.

I'd definitely do this hike again. It was the perfect amount of challenging without being so hard as to ruin the experience. The view is indescribable. If you've got a car that can take on huge troughs and rocks in the road for 6 miles, I recommend checking this one out.

Ali