The Monte Cristo area is awesome: it has fascinating mining history, isn’t too far from Seattle, and has remarkably rugged and glaciated summits, despite their relatively low elevation. Despite all this, I’ve not spent very much time in the region, having only climbed Kyes Peak as a spring ski trip with Matt in 2023. When I heard my friend Mike was visiting from out of town last week, it seemed like a good opportunity to go tag a new summit, see some new views, and hopefully enjoy some flowers. Helene rounded out our group, and we decided to do the climb as two half-days, so that we could camp above Twin Lakes.
To speed up the approach, we loaded three bikes onto my car, and set off from Barlow Pass around 16:15. We made quick work of the old railroad grade, but crossing the Sauk with my touring bike loaded down with camping gear was a bit tricky. A few chunkier sections of the trail also made for some excitement with my 32mm tires, but we made it to the ghost town of Monte Cristo in about an hour, with plenty of berry stops.
“PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! Snohomish Country does not warrant the bridges or the road for vehicular traffic.” Helene is unphased by the old railroad grade into Monte Cristo. Astute readers will note this photo was taken on the exit.
Helene was excited by the old railroad turntable at Monte Cristo, which still turns freely despite being over 125 years old.
We locked up our bikes and headed up the trail to Poodle Dog Pass, popping out above treeline and getting our first great views of the surrounding mountains. The trail along the ridge towards Twin Lakes was gorgeous, with sights in all directions, including Wilmans Spires, which look quite impressive. We rounded the corner and saw Twin Lakes below us, and descended about halfway down to the lakes where we found a nice secluded campsite. We dropped our stuff, then I headed back up to the West Peak of Twin Peaks, just a bit too slow to catch the last of the evening light.
Helene on the trail to Twin Lakes, with Wilmans Spires at left and Columbia at right.
Helene and Mike in the basin above Twin Lakes, with the West Face of Columbia behind them
Evening light on the far side of Twin Lakes, with Spire Mountain and Gunn in the distance.
After a lovely (and dewy!) night of camping, I got up before sunrise and headed down to the shore of Twin Lakes to watch the first light of the day hit Hubbart Peak across the far shore. We had breakfast and packed up camp, then headed back up the trail for ~1/2 a mile to where it was easy to cross back onto the east side of the ridge. We dropped our camping stuff and set off with light packs for Columbia, picking up a climbers’ trail on the East Ridge of Twin Peaks, and following it through heather and flowers to around 6,300 feet where we encountered a small buttress.
First light on Hubbart Peak
Flowers on the way up Columbia, with Twin Lakes below. Note Rainier poking out at middle right.
Cool volcanic rock and flowers on the way up
I thought the route here was actually not as straightforward as I expected, and we hemmed and hawwed a bit before climbing up talus on the left side of a snow patch before traversing back climbers’ right on a beautiful flower-covered ledge to access an obvious gully guarded by a single class 4 move at the bottom. Above this, the climbing was easy with great views up the low angle gully, although neither Mike nor Helene liked the loose rock. About 50 feet below the summit we wrapped around to the north for the last few moves to the top, which we reached at 10:15, 2.25 hours after leaving the trail and going at a slow pace.
Helene was awed by the flowers on the ledge we traversed.
Mike and Helene scrambling up the final gully, far above Twin Lakes
Glacier Peak, Monte Cristo, and Kyes above the Columbia Glacier as seen from the summit
Helene and Mike just below the summit
Flowers on the summit with great views down to Twin Lakes
We started down at 10:30, with Mike and Helene taking a sporting head start. We made it down without any trouble, recollected our camping gear, and set off the trail back towards Poodle Dog Pass. We spent a few minutes back at Monte Cristo sniffing around the old town site, then hopped on our bikes and enjoyed a very pleasant ride back to Barlow Pass.
Helene downclimbing through more flowers
Descending some firm snow
Heading back down the climbers’ trail
And back along the ridge to the Twin Lakes Trail