Summit Lake Trail - This is an easy hike that takes you to a beautiful alpine lake set among granite boulders. If someone can drop you off, you can start from the Donner Summit rest area (heading west). This cuts a couple miles off the hike. The official trailhead is reached by taking the Castle Peak/Boreal Ridge Rd exit just past the rest area. After going under the freeway, look for sign reading Tahoe National Forest Trailhead Donner Summit Pacific Crest Trail. There are several trails that intersect after leaving this trailhead. From the trailhead, it is a 4.7 mile round trip hike to the lake and around it.

While there is little elevation gain on this hike, you are likely to feel it since you are hiking above 7,000 feet. You are mostly hiking through granite with no shade, but there are shaded areas as well. You can just hike to the lake and then return, but there is a trail around the lake which I recommend. You can frequently find different types of fungi on the trees around the lake. One time, I was incredibly fortunate to find beautiful yellow and orange shell-like fungi (shown in slides 15 and 16) on a downed log. I've been to Summit Lake many times and only saw this kind once, but there are often other kinds of fungi on the trees there so keep your eyes open.

In the last slide, you see Castle Peak in the distance. There is a hike up there and the view is wonderful, but it is a tough hike.