[Lassen NP] Summit Lake to Cluster and Twin Lakes Loop

Hike Review

We backpacked from the Summit Lake Ranger Station to Silver Lake, then back by hiking a loop in a clockwise direction. Specifically, we hiked the Echo Lake/Twin Lakes Trail, Bear Lakes Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, then back to Echo Lake/Twin Lakes Trail.
The Dixie Fire had burned through this area two years ago (2021)—the majority of the hiking was through areas that had been burned. There were parts where it looks like the forest had burned a longer time ago; it looks like there was another fire called Reading Fire in 2012.
All trails were single track trails that was either a burnt forest or a healthy forest with the loop having a handful of lakes and another handful of smaller ponds. The toughest part was hiking the Echo Lake/Twin Lakes Trail during the day when it was 80+ degrees. The lack of shade and vegetation—due to the fire—made the trail seem hotter than usual. Thankfully, there were many lakes to jump into.
Because of the fires, there were very few people hiking or backpacking.
Out of all the lakes, Little Bear Lake, Silver Lake, and Echo Lake standout as the gems. These lakes were clearer, less muddy, and just more fun to swim in.
The bathroom at the Summit Lake Ranger Station was clean and well stocked. As usual, it did not have running water.
There were less mosquitos than forecast, though it was still lots. The worst was near the ranger station at Lower Twin Lake, where mosquitos were jumping on us at every opportunity.
We saw deer, squirrels, tadpoles, and ducks. We also heard woodpeckers and other birds. The doe we encountered were not shy at all, and did not retreat until we came within about 30 ft of her. Unlike most other hikes I have done in the Sierras, I did not spot any bear scat.

Camp Review

We camped at an established dispersed camp spot on the east side of Silver Lake.
There were enough spaces for 4-5 tents, which was perfect for our group. I was able to even find a spot that had two healthy trees that I could hang my hammock off of. Someone had created a cute garden section in one of the campsites, which brought joy to us.
There was one other couple who were camping right next to the lake a few hundred feet away from us, but we barely heard them during the day and not at all at night.
We also found a clearing a good distance away where we cooked and ate, to keep the food smells away. We then stored our bear canisters another 100 ft away.
There was zero wind at night and Jerry reported complete silence when he woke up around 4am.

What I Learned

It was my first time backpacking in sandals and it was just so convenient, especially given that I knew that I’d be jumping into most of the lakes and ponds that I ran across. The negatives were that my feet got incredibly dirty by the end of the trip and there were small pain points on most of my feet. Still, I’d do it again if I knew I was going to swim a lot.
It was my first time hiking in totally wet clothes and it was great! The evaporative cooling allowed me to regulate my temperature better—it made me a better hiker on the second day, where I made sure to stay wet once the temperature got warm.
I had always wanted to try out hammock camping, so when I saw that a hammock with a mosquito net cost less than $30, I bought it and tried it out on this trip. My verdict is that I loved it far more than I thought I would. I had the best sleep I’ve ever had in the back country, even though I woke up at 5am because my inflatable mattress had deflated and was no longer keeping my back warm. I plan on replacing the inflatable mattress for hammock camping with an underquilt. I think this setup is perfect for when I know I’m sleeping alone at night and when I know there are trees where I’m sleeping.
It was my first time backpacking with other adults. While I moved much slower than I would by myself, what I found was that the slower pace made me appreciate and enjoy myself much more. For instance, I got to jump into far more lakes than I would have by myself as I don’t enjoy swimming by myself—but with friends, it was absolutely fun! I also used the extra time in the morning to mediate, swim, and to just relax and take it easy.
I had the idea of hydrating a homemade bibimbap dehydrated meal a few years ago, but finally got a chance to try it on this trip. I had rice + dehydrated veggies in the silicone bag, which I hydrated with boiling water. Once it was done hydrating, I put in tuna from a packet and the gochujang sauce I had made at home. It was delicious—one of the best dehydrated meals I have ever had!
Given the warm weather, I thought about not bringing any long pants. On a whim, I brought my rain pants just for the mosquitos. I should have brought my flannel pants as I forgot how cold wet swimming trunks could be at night. The rain pants worked okay, but I was definitely a bit chilly until I got below my down quilt.
We stopped for a final swim at Summit Lake when we were less than half a mile from being finished. While we were hanging out, Jerry saw an upside down rainbow, which we marveled at seeing. At home, I found out that it is called circumzenithal arcs and they’re caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. Pretty cool!
It was my first time hiking in a heavily fire-damaged area and while some in our group didn’t love it... I kind of did—I found the desolate, grim views to be beautiful in a dark way. The only downside for me was the lack of vegetation which meant a hotter hike.
I had wanted the backpacking experience to be extra special for my friends, so I brought salami + sharp cheddar + rice crackers to share. They were popular and appreciated and I think is something I want to continue to bring for others.

Friends

Jerry, Mariah, Louie, and Steve joined me on this backpacking trip. Steve is someone who has more backpacking experience than me and it showed in how dialed his setup was. I was especially impressed by his food system and how efficient/prepared he was.

Jerry, Mariah, and Louie were pretty new to backpacking. It was completely new to Louie, who stated that it was their first time. I helped them prepare a bit by the trip by answering some questions, but they did a great job in researching and figuring out exactly what they needed. Jerry had gone backpacking in snow in the previous year, but it was his first backpacking trip of the year. He had a respectable setup, with his sleeping pad looking 30-40 years old. I thought it was so cool that he had gear that I think most backpackers would consider ancient—and this is for his sleeping pad—the item that usually breaks (due to holes) in just a few years. For Mariah, it was their first backpacking trip with people other than their family. I couldn’t believe that they were carrying 70L worth of stuff in a pack that did not fit them well—all without complaint!

What Happened?

5.6 miles, 3 hrs 51 mins, 738 ft of ascent

6.9 miles, 4 hrs 41 mins, 901 ft of ascent

At 7:30 AM sharp, Jerry arrived at my place and we drove over to Mariah’s place to pick them and Louie up. When we arrived, I was happily surprised to see both Mariah and Louie standing on the sidewalk completely ready to be picked up. After they got in, we drove to Berkeley to pick up Steve; who was also ready to go as soon as we arrived. At this point, with everyone being so punctual, I had a sneaky good feeling that this trip would be pretty fantastic (spoiler alert: it was better than I imagined).

From Berkeley, we drove north and arrived at Red Bluff hungry for food—in the way up, we had arrived at a consensus for having Thai food for lunch and picked a spot with good reviews. When we got there, the Thai restaurant looked a bit sketch—the placed looked a bit rundown and the signage seemed lacking. However, the food itself was delicious! I enjoyed my vegetarian Pad Thai while others enjoyed duck, curry, and noodles. We really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!

With full bellies, we drove up to Lassen and stopped by the visitor center. I had forgotten to print out the wilderness reservation permit and decided to ask the ranger at the visitor center for help. When I explained my situation to the ranger, they just looked at me blankly until I broke the awkward silence by gently asking if they could help me resolve this situation. They then gave me an index card and told me to put my permit information on it and to leave it on the dash of my car; they also advised me to keep the digital copy of my permit on my phone handy. The internet connection was awful, but my mail application had an offline copy of this permit, so we were going to be a-okay.

We were hoping to find parking at either Summit Lake South Campground, Summit Lake North Campground, or at the Summit Lake Ranger Station. It turned out that Summit Lake South was still closed and Summit Lake North did not have any free parking spaces. We did find parking at the Summit Lake Ranger Station, so we slathered on a ton of sunblock and started our backpacking adventure.

I remember the hike from Summit Lake up to the Bear Lakes Trail being really tough. I was just super hot and that made my heart rate climb up to the 160s as my body struggled to remove heat. I sprayed myself with water and drank a lot of water to barely keep pace with everyone else. When we got to our first pond, even though the water was not very clear and there was a ton of mud, I jumped in and cooled down. It felt like heaven and I was definitely in love with this backpacking trip from this point forward. By this time, we had also hiked past the worst of the burned forest, which also improved my mood (as beautiful as burned forests can be, it is also just hot due to the lack of vegetation).

As much as I was thankful for the first nameless pond for cooling me down, Little Bear Lake was even more lovely. It also cooled me down, and it managed to do so with super clear waters (so no mud). I didn’t just feel cool, but also really clean. The next lake, Big Bear Lake, was a muddy one, but it had this beauty to it due to the skeleton-like fallen trees that littered the shore of the lake. I took this picture of Steve that I will treasure for a long time. At this point, we realized how late it was, so we quickly made our way to Silver Lake while getting a tiny bit off-course due to the overgrowth of bushes that made path finding difficult.

Silver Lake was a marvelous lake, but what caught our attention first was a doe that let us get to within 30 feet of her. We had initially talked about finding a campsite at Feather Lake, but Silver Lake was so nice that we decided to keep an eye out for established camping spots that we could utilize. At the east end of the lake, we found exactly what we needed and setup camp.

This was my first time setting up a hammock for camping, but because of the practice I had put in at home, I was able to put up my shelter efficiently and get in the water for an evening dip. Jerry and Louie joined me as soon as they were ready and we had a great time sharing the pool float I had brought (the water was a bit chilly, so who ever had the float could warm up and relax, while the other two had to be active to stay warm). When it got too cold, we exited the water and went over to a near by clearing to cook and eat dinner.

I was pretty excited for dinner as I had charcuterie to share and my home-made bibimbap to test out. First though, I had to put out a fire! You see, when Mariah and Louie were putting together their isobutane stove, they did not screw the canister all the way, which allowed some of the fuel to escape. So after a minute or two, I think they made a noise that made me look over and see the canister on fire. I think I was dumbfounded for a second as I struggled to comprehend what was going on. I rushed over and decided the best way to fix this situation was to put the fire out by unscrewing the canister all the way. I struggled to turn it in the right direction that would make the flame size smaller, but after two tries, I committed and managed to remove the canister and put out the fire. In the moment, I was full of fear as I was worried about the canister blowing up my face, but others remarked that I looked calm and collected (maybe I do have a future in play professional poker? ). After that, we ate the charcuterie board and waited for our dehydrated meals to hydrate. As we ate our dinner, we all tried each other’s food. My favorite was my own dinner, but my second favorite was Pad Thai from Backpacker’s Pantry that Louie brought—it had a strong peanut butter flavor that hit just right.

After dinner, we brushed our teeth and went to bed as it was quite late. Actually, I first ended up demoing how to use the potty trowel, as I shared mine with the others. In the privacy of my hammock, I wrote some postcards, listened to some music, and got tired enough to want to go to bed.

I woke up around 5am as my sleeping pad of 2+ years finally got a leak and crumpled. This was my insulation layer, which meant that my back was super cold now that it was deflated. So, after trying to somehow fall asleep again, I got up, wrapped the sleeping bag around me, and went for a short hike to warm myself up.

I first headed off to Feather Lake to see what the lake looked like. I found the lake to be unimpressive as it looked like it had been torched by the Dixie Fire. I then walked back to Silver Lake (where Mariah and Louie were getting out of their tent), found a rock a bit north of where we were camping and sat down to sing songs and meditate. After a while, I noticed that Louie was actually up—they were collecting and filtering water. When I went back to camp, Jerry was up too. We traded stories about how we slept (I slept well, Jerry less so) and I helped Jerry with breakfast by boiling water. As we made breakfast, Steve also woke up after having a full night of rest.

A bit after this, the neighbors who had slept a few hundred feet away from us came over and asked us if any one of us went over near their tent and made random noises outside of it. None of us had, so we answered in the negative and offered a guess which was that the over-friendly deer had probably gone over near their tent to eat or drink water. I can imagine that they were spooked, but I was also surprised that they had not gone out at night with their headlamp to check what was making all the noise.

Anyways, I think I then packed up all my stuff (except for the pool floatie and towel), then headed into the water for a morning swim. After a bit Jerry joined me and after a bit more, Mariah joined us. Alas, we could not spend the whole day there, so around 10am, we got out, made sure we left the camp in the same condition we found it in, and started our hike out.

The hike out was a steady affair that was punctuated with a few highlights. One, the area around the Lower Twin Lake Ranger Station was filled to the brim with mosquitos and we all had to put on mosquito repellent, lest we end up donating a pint of blood to these tiny vampires. Two, I got hot so had to jump into Upper Twin Lake to cool down (Jerry joined me in cooling down). Three, at Echo Lake, we took a short lunch break where everyone except for Steve jumped in the water to swim and to horse around. We even competed in performing underwater back flips which Steve judged—Jerry scored a 7, I scored an 8, Louie scored a 9, and Mariah finished by earning the unprecedented score of 1.5. Lastly, at Summit Lake, Steve got into the water as he had promised earlier and we all enjoyed chilling out under the circumzenithal arcs.

We then got in the car, went back to the visitor center to enjoy ice cream and other foods (I had a hotdog and Louie/Jerry had a pulled pork sandwich).

On the drive back, we enjoyed Steve’s music for a while, then listened to some climbing podcasts (first an interview with Alex Honnold who told amusing stories, then a sobering podcast about climbing accidents). We also ate at a Hawaiian place for dinner as a few of us had never had Moco Locos before (Mariah also mentioned that the name means crazy booger—how could you not want to eat a dish with a name like that!). After that I dropped off Steve, then Louie, then Mariah. Jerry and I drove back and we got back to my place at 10 PM. Jerry had a short drive home and I took an exhausted shower before going to bed.