A few years ago my daughter and I discussed doing the Bearheads as a day hike with her dog, as these peaks are outside the national park boundary (in the Clearwater Wilderness). Easy peasy, drive just short of the Mt. Rainier Carbon River entrance and turn left on the bridge, continue to the trailhead and presto, a few miles in and you’re on the trail to Bearhead Mountain. Now, with the closure of the Fairfax bridge and no access to the Carbon River entrance or Mowich Lake, getting to the Bearheads becomes a whole different ball game. There are dues to pay.

Aside from hiking many miles to this area from Sunrise or Longmire, one can drive to Wilkeson and proceed via FS roads 7710 and 7720 to a trailhead. This road is not for your average SUV if you value your oil pan and a pristine paint job, a higher clearance vehicle is in order. It’s 11 miles of rough, rocky and pitted road. Then, after a short distance on trail, one must negotiate the Rooster Comb ridge, which can be slow going with a lot of class 3 moves. Nothing tricky or particularly dangerous here, just not for the average hiker who is not used to these sorts of trails. Finally you arrive at Summit Lake, which in the past was very popular with families because of its easy access. We proceeded another 1.5 miles on to camp for the evening at Twin Lake, making for a shorter second day with an eye towards getting back to the vehicle and driving out during daylight. This plan, in fact, worked out perfectly, driving in Friday afternoon and reaching Twin Lake with plenty of time to set up, eat and relax.

*Smoke in the distance but not for us (Bearhead Mtn)*

5 AM was the alarm time the next morning and we were ambulating by 6. After tagging the two peaks and descending the Rooster Comb (we got off track a couple of times but it didn’t cost us that much time) we arrived at the vehicle just before 4 PM. Plenty of time to drive out and get some pizza in Wilkeson before heading back to Michelle and John’s place. Many thanks to these two who did the driving and led the trip, a tremendous favor for yours truly. This trip was a success on all counts, with great weather, no injuries and excellent company, tagging two more difficult to reach summits on the Mt Rainier 100 Peaks list. The video highlights the drive in and some of the more difficult spots on the Rooster Comb Ridge and a few other areas. Filmed in 4K, run time 35 minutes.