Trip Date: September 17, 2003
Martin Peak Day Climb
Eagle Creek
Martin Lakes
Martin Peak (8375 ft)
Trip Report Summary
Region: North-Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Sawtooth Mountains
Area: Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest
Starting & Ending Point: Crater Creek Trailhead at end of Crater Creek Road #4340-300 (Elev. 4750 feet)
Way Points: Crater Creek & Eagle Creek & Martin Creek & Martin Lakes & North Martin Pond & West Martin Pond (trail hike & off-trail hike)
Summit: Martin Peak (rock scramble via North Ridge; descent via East Ridge)
Approximate Stats: 16 miles traveled; 4400 feet gained & lost; 7.4 hours up; 4.9 hours down.
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Full Trip Report
On a quiet Wednesday morning, Laura and I headed up the Martin Creek Trail in partly sunny but cold weather. We continued around the two Martin Lakes and up to North Martin Pond, which gave views of Martin Peak’s cliffy northeast face.
- Martin Peak Above North Martin Pond
From here, both the north and east ridges look equally feasible. We arbitrarily selected the north ridge and began ascending talus, scree, and some Class 1-2 ledges, past West Martin Pond, en route to the crest. After hitting the crest, we traversed upward on the west slope, which was mostly Class 1 except for some enjoyable Class 2-3 rock near the top.
- Scrambling Up Martin Peak
- High On Martin Peak’s North Ridge
It was cold, windy, and fairly late in the afternoon (4:15pm) when we reached the summit cairn. Despite the chilly weather, we lingered for 45 minutes on top, taking in views of scattered lakes and meadows and nearby peaks. Clouds swirled over the Cascades farther to the west. We signed the summit register, which had been left by Mike Torok during his swing through the Sawtooths circa 1994 and is contained within one of his high-quality PVC register tubes.
- Laura On Martin Peak Summit
At 5:00pm, we started down the east ridge, hoping this would be faster than the north ridge. It turned out to be very straightforward and saved us nearly an hour of valuable time. We descended a steep chute to Martin Lakes, paused to doff windgear, then hustled down the trail.
Darkness caught us somewhere around 5 miles from the trailhead, so we pulled out headlamps and continued onward. Although this trail is relatively smooth and well-graded, the powdery dirt reflected off our headlamp beams so badly that we found ourselves stumbling comically through a “gray-out,” unable to see any trail features or even our own feet! It was 10:00pm and 42 degrees when we hit the trailhead under a starry sky.
Photo Gallery
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