Trip Date: September 27, 2003
Circle Peak Day Climb
Circle Creek Basin
Circle Peak / Lookout (5983 ft)
Trip Report Summary
Region: North-Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: East Sauk Mountains
Area: Mt. Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest
Starting & Ending Point: Informal trailhead at end of Circle Creek Road #2703 (Elev. 4100 feet)
Way Points: Circle Creek Basin & Circle Peak Ridge (trail hike)
Summit: Circle Peak (rock scramble via South Ridge)
Approximate Stats: 4.0 miles traveled; 1800 feet gained & lost; 1.5 hours up; 1.1 hours down.
Full Trip Report
Circle Peak is a former lookout site on the ridge between the Suiattle River and White Chuck River. Ray Kresek’s lookout book indicates that a cabin occupied the site between 1930 and 1967. The “100 hikes” book describes two different approaches, both on abandoned trails: One goes up Crystal Creek (on the White Chuck side); the other goes up Circle Creek (on the Suiattle side). Although the first sounds more interesting and satisfying, time constraints pushed Laura and me to do the second, which is much shorter.
We drove up the long but well-maintained Circle Creek logging road to its terminus in a big clearcut near elevation 4100 feet (the hike book says 3800 feet, but this number seems low). There are no signs marking the trailhead here because it never was an official trailhead. We started up a little cleft in the road cut and immediately found a nice boot path heading straight up the clearcut. After about 100 yards, this path abruptly turns left and becomes what appears to be the abandoned “official” trail. A survey stake marked with a station 0+00 notation can be seen at the path/trail junction, and we passed several other stakes along the trail. Presumably, some group is either performing or planning to perform maintenance on the old trail. Either way, we found it to be in surprisingly good condition and very easy to follow.
After 2 miles or so, the trail peters out on a sharp rock crest about 50 yards from the summit and lookout site. The route ahead looks a bit dubious but actually turns out to be an easy (albeit very exposed) traverse along a short catwalk, followed by a 20-foot descent to a little notch, then a path back up to the ample summit area. The former lookout personnel undoubtedly became quite adept at this traverse during their daily trips to the watering hole!
Although the hike is unusually short, the views from Circle’s summit are unusually big. The “circle” of closely surrounding peaks includes White Chuck, Chaval, Misch, Dome, Glacier, Black (which looks very Stuart-esque), and Pugh. Geologically, the local terrain is also fascinating. The summit is the high point of long (1 mile or so), narrow ridge of strikingly white rock that juts out of the green forest like a dorsal fin. This “fin” appears to be a vertically dipping dike of hard, coarsely crystalline rock.
Another bit of summit spice is provided by a mailbox that someone has planted there as a register. Inside the mailbox, Laura found a notebook established by a Circle Peak aficionado who hopes the trail will become officially re-opened by the Forest Service. He seems to be getting his wish. If you want great views, an easy hike, and don’t mind a long drive, this peak is a winner!
Photo Gallery
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