[Canuck]

I second johnahl's description of the very, very, very rough road. It was horrible, and I was glad the Tamster & I had a full size spare. We were amazed at the trailhead that there were regular econo-box cars that made it! The trailhead had about a half dozen cars. It was warm when we started, around 9:00. We made it to Twin Lakes a few short minutes later (only about a mile from the car). We let the dogs swim for awhile, then started to Summit Lake. The trail is in great shape. There is still snow at the lake but nothing you can't navigate around, at least around the left (south?) side of the lake. I wouldn't go the other way, but then again I'm chickensh*t when it comes to snow. I don't want to posthole!! We started up the slope that goes up to the other side of the lake for that fabulous view of Mt. Rainier towering above Summit Lake but the bugs were so awful up there (bees, flies, skeeters) that we opted to turn around and enjoy the view of the lake from the lake, where there were fewer bugs (presumably because of the snow??). Anyway it was a gorgeous lake, mostly thawed out, and a fantastic view of Bearhead & Rainier is seen from there too. Note to dog owners: that lake is so cold, our dogs (chocolate lab & a golden retriever) would only stay in for a few short minutes. I heard the same from another dog owner on the way there. We were back to the car around 1:00 I think. Probably 15-20 cars at the trailhead when we got down. The bugs were bad all the way up & down, but DEET kept them from biting. One of these days I'm going to remember my camera. We took pictures with Tamster's fancy camera but she uses real film and I don't have the patience for that - next trip I'll bring the digital & post pics with trip reports!!

[justybug]

the trail up to bearhead is snow free i think all the way up. made it to within 1/8 of a mile when my friends' blisters turned us back.. last week there was still about 5 feet of snow in spots.. We headed out around 9 as well, lots of dogs out here today!

view from Bearhead Mt (former Lookout) South to Mt. Rainier with low lenticular

Rainier from Bearhead Mt. trail

[sarbar]

Justybug...tell your friend to start carrying Bandaid Compeed bandaids. They rock for blisters. Sure they run about $1 per bandaid, but with one applied you can hike for days with bad blisters. I carry about a dozen with me always, and will hand them out if I see someone suffering Sorry for going off topic! Gorgeous shot though!

[The Tamster]

Thanks for going off topic!! I tend to get blisters on long hikes and the only thing that I've found that helps is duct tape.

[justybug]

trail is clear all the way to the top, and not bad at 2 am either.. got up here in time to take some sunrise pics, sorry to whoever else was up top if i woke you!