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Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble - August Peak, Virgina Peak, Berry Peak & Martin Peak

Clockwise loop of four peaks on a crisp fall day

Paul Kallmann Paul Kallmann
October 25, 2020
  • Road rough but passable

  • Mowich Rd up to the park is in very bad shape from before the Evans ORV park all the way to MRNP.  The road has deteriorated since I was up there in August.  Please give yourself extra time.

    The West Boundary trail itself is in very good shape but it is muddy down by Evans Creek before getting to August Peak.  The off trail from August to Berry and Berry to Virginia had some blowdown.  It was not too brushy, probably what I would have expected.  Ground was wet from recent rains.  A little dusting snow at the top of Berry.

Club trip:  6 people total.

We parked on the side of the road at the West Boundary trail, about 1/2 mile before the MRNP pay station.  We headed up the trail and then turned off the trail to complete Martin Peak first.  We descended the ridge heading northeast and back to the West Boundary trail.  We then continued along the trail almost to its end before turning up off to the short ascent to August Peak.  From August Peak we continued down the ridge to the southeast and then and then headed up the highpoint (Razzleberry Peak).  That was probably the steepest section of the day.  We then traversed over to Berry Peak.  From Berry we headed back down below Razzleberry to the Berry/Virginia saddle and then up the east ascend to the top of Virginia.  We crossed over the other side in a general southwest direction back to the West Boundary Trail and out.

The trip description of mileage/elevation in the Mountaineers website is different than our trip  By doing the clockwise loop (Martin, August, Berry, Virginia) and running the ridge from August to Berry, the trip is actually only about 7.7 miles and 2,550 ft of gain.  We completed in 7.5 hours car to car, taking breaks at our summits for food and water and traveling at moderate pace.

Here is the GAIA link to the trip route:  https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/2f5f132f08b048214b36cc2ae8682b470117ce37/

Weather: Sunny at the top of Martin, cloudy at August, light snow at Berry, more moderate snow at Virginia, raining when we got back to the car.  No views, but there wouldn't have been view any way since all four summits are wooded.

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