Trip Date: September 16, 2021
Tinkham Peak Day Climb & Summit Loop: Mirror Lake to Windy Pass
Twin Lakes
Tinkham Pass
Mirror Lake
Tinkham Peak: false summit aka East Tinkham Peak (5395′)
Tinkham Peak: true summit aka West Tinkham Peak (~5399′)
Cold Creek Pass
Windy Pass
Trip Report Summary
Region: Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Iron Horse Mountains
Areas: Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest
Starting & Ending Point: Cold Creek Trailhead on Cold Creek Road #9070 (Elev. 2950 feet)
Way Points: Cold Creek & Twin Lakes & Tinkham Pass / PCT junction & Mirror Lake & East Tinkham Peak summit & West Tinkham Peak summit & Cold Creek Pass / Silver Peak Trail junction & PCT junction & Windy Pass / Cold Creek Road junction & Mt. Catherine Trail junction & Cold Creek Trail junction & Cold Creek (trail hike & off-trail hike & rock scramble & road walk & trail hike)
Summit: East Tinkham Peak (ascent via Southeast Ridge; descent via West Ridge)
Summit: West Tinkham Peak (ascent via East Ridge; descent via West Face—Northwest Ridge)
Approximate Stats: 8.0 miles traveled; 3200 feet gained & lost; 2.9 hours up; 2.1 hours down.
Related Posts
Abiel Peak + Cold Creek Trail Loop – September 23, 2021
Silver Peak via Hyak Flats—Nordic Pass—Northwest Ridge – May 15, 2020
Trip Overview
Tinkham Peak is one of the “Iron Horse Triplets,” which, along with Silver Peak and Abiel Peak, comprise three closely spaced summits in the northeastern part of the Iron Horse Mountains. Although not as tall and well-known as Silver Peak, Tinkham Peak is steeper and craggier. This ruggedness can be seen to good advantage from westbound Interstate-90 between Mileposts 60 and 63; Tinkham Peak appears as a rock horn just left of Silver Peak’s graceful pyramid.
.
.
There are two primary routes to the summit of Tinkham Peak: one goes up the southeastern ridge from Mirror Lake; the other goes up the northwestern ridge from Cold Creek Pass. Because the southeastern ridge route is more gentle, it seems to have gained more popularity in recent years. Both routes, however, are interesting, scenic, and fairly clean. Consequently, they can be combined to create an excellent summit loop with the choice of several different starting points.
The three main starting points for a climb of Tinkham Peak are as follows:
- Mirror Lake Trailhead (Elev. 3600 feet) on Lost Lake Road #5480-630. From here, it is 1.2 miles by trail to Mirror Lake and 1.8 miles by trail to Tinkham Pass.
- Cold Creek Trailhead (Elev. 2950 feet) on Cold Creek Road #9070. From here, it is 0.6 miles by trail to Twin Lakes, 1.8 miles by trail or 2.0 miles by road to Windy Pass, and 2.3 miles by trail to Tinkham Pass.
- Windy Pass (Elev. 3800 feet) at the intersection of Pacific Crest Trail #2000 and Cold Creek Road #9070. From here, it is 2.0 miles by trail to Cold Creek Pass and 2.8 miles by trail to Tinkham Pass.
Doing the summit loop in a counter-clockwise direction offers the tactical advantage of ascending the steeper northwest ridge and descending the less-steep southeast ridge. Most casual scramblers will find this to be more appealing. Doing the loop in a clockwise direction offers the esthetic advantage that the false summit is gained before the true summit, thereby creating a somewhat more climactic finish. Competent scramblers will appreciate this option.
It can be a little difficult selecting a specific route among the multiple options available. Favoring esthetics over efficiency, I elected to start at the Cold Creek Trailhead and perform a clockwise summit loop. This resulted in slightly more total mileage, elevation gain, and uncertainty, but it minimized road-walking and back-travel distance. Besides, I had no reason to rush through such a nice trip!
Full Trip Report
On a cool but sunny fall morning, I hiked up the woodsy Cold Creek Trail to Twin Lakes. Tinkham Peak could be seen straight ahead, about 1½ miles away, rising above a forest slope. Admittedly, it does not look at all impressive from here.
.
Turning left at Twin Lakes, I stayed on the Cold Creek Trail as it crossed the lake outlet and switch-backed up to 4500-foot Tinkham Pass, there meeting the PCT. I headed downhill to the south on the PCT and soon reached attractive Mirror Lake (1.7 hours + 1600 feet from TH). Tinkham Peak—or at least part of it—was visible closely above the lake and looking much more impressive from this vantage.
.
.
.
At the far end of Mirror Lake, I left the PCT, crossed the outlet stream, and picked up an obvious bootpath that curves around the lake’s south shore. This path passes by several nice campsites, then veers to the left across a small talus slope before abruptly turning steeply uphill to the right. Mirror Lake soon came back into view below me, its dark blue water contrasting with the dense green forest.
.
.
The remarkably well-defined bootpath climbs atop the southeast ridge of Tinkham Peak and keeps going up, always staying on or very close to the crest and just outside of the Cedar River Watershed boundary. I could see the false summit straight ahead, as well as a cluster of lakes—Mirror, Cottonwood, Lost, and Keechelus—stretching out behind me.
.
.
The path eventually emerges from the forest and continues up a rocky nose, then makes a leftward traverse over to the false summit. This craggy point was triangulated at 5395 feet and erroneously marked as “Tinkham Peak” on USGS maps. The presence of an ammo-can register here, with hundreds of people signed in over the past few years, indicates that it is probably a final destination for many climbers. The fact that the true summit stands ¼ mile away at the end of a sharp ridge certainly does little to encourage anyone to keep going!
.
Because the true summit was never triangulated by the USGS, I brought a hand-held survey level with me for the purpose of establishing an approximate elevation. My level sightings revealed that the true summit is about 4 to 6 feet higher than the false summit. This difference would correspond to an elevation range of 5399 to 5401 feet, but USGS maps show that the true summit does not quite reach 5400 feet. I therefore concluded that 5399 feet is a reasonable provisional elevation.
After performing my rudimentary survey, I headed over to the true summit. The traverse initially looked long and tedious, but it really isn’t. A bootpath led me down from the false summit, then across a high talus slope, then back up, ending with a short Class 2 scramble to the top (2.9 hours + 3000 feet from TH). This point has a brass Mountaineers register tube stuffed with soggy papers.
.
Tinkham Peak provides a good view of the other Iron Horse Mountains to the west and south, as well as the Snoqualmie Mountains to the north. I took particular note of the fact that three separate segments of Interstate-90 can be seen from here, which means that this summit is visible from three different freeway locations.
.
.
.
.
To complete my planned summit loop, I scrambled down a short distance to the west (toward Abiel Lake) until reaching a wooded cliff that at first looked very difficult to descend. Upon closer inspection, however, I found a reasonable Class 3 route that went down a shallow cleft and then rightward across a series of small ledges on a mossy face. The scrambling was moderately exposed but never so difficult as to warrant a rope.
.
Upon reaching the bottom of the cliffy area, I picked up a bootpath leading directly down the crest of Tinkham’s northwest ridge. This path is somewhat steeper than the southeast ridge path but is well-defined and exhibits more signs of previous maintenance, such as numerous cut branches and even a few cut logs. Nonetheless, it doesn’t appear to get much traffic. Perhaps this was the standard route for many decades and then became superseded by the other route in recent years.
The bootpath led me down to a four-way junction at 4750-foot Cold Creek Pass. From this junction, the primitive Silver Peak Trail goes straight ahead toward Silver and Abiel Peaks, and a narrow path goes left a few dozen yards to the brink of a cliff overlooking Abiel Lake. (Be aware that Abiel Lake lies within the Cedar River Watershed; public access is strictly prohibited.) I turned right at the junction and followed the wide, heavily trodden Silver Peak Trail downhill to an intersection with the PCT.
.
.
A left turn on the PCT took me 2 miles over to Windy Pass and Cold Creek Road, which I followed downhill for ¼ mile to an unmarked junction with the Mt. Catherine Trail. This latter trail dropped me down to Twin Lakes, thereby closing my loop. A short hike back to the Cold Creek Trailhead completed my 8-mile trek in mid-afternoon (2.1 hours + 200 feet from true summit).
Route Map & Profile
…
…
Photo Gallery
Click to enlarge…
