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Alpine Scramble - Marcus Peak & The Palisades

Successful early-season of Marcus Peak & The Palisades from the just-opened Sunrise Road.

Patrick Maes Patrick Maes
July 06, 2025
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Trail conditions were excellent with very little snow remaining even thought the Sunrise Road opened only the day prior.  There were only a couple of downed trees that had to be negotiated on the approach. Scramble portion was on combination of soft dirt/rock, and T-3 rock (mostly on Marcus Peak). Large saddle area near the small unnamed lake made picking the "best" scramble line more difficult. 

Trip started on the Palisades Lake trail and headed DOWN and then up/down to Hidden Lake after about 3 miles until the maintained trail ended. Solid trail continued around the lake until reaching the western end where the scrambling would begin. Approach to the saddle between Marcus and The Palisades "complex" was a combination of loose dirt/rock and more structured rock, but nothing drastic. We "chose our own adventure" moving up through the recommended gully to climbers' left to gain the saddle. Once there, we took a quick break and decided to tag Marcus Peak first, as it was the more technical rock scramble than The Palisades. Approach was pretty obvious with nothing more than T-3 rock/exposure throughout. There were several different options once we got within about 50' vertical of the summit block but all led to the top. 

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After relaxing on top, we worked our way back down to the saddle and had a legit lunch break before tackling The Palisades. Once complete, we worked our way to the climbers' left in the large saddle area until it appeared to be a good route up. Because we could not see the goal peak on The Palisades, we ended up topping the ridge about 80' vertical below the goal and to the right of the prominent peak. Without giving back too much vertical, we worked left until below our goal and started up. The Palisades were more of a walk-up scramble, so we were glad we had tackled Marcus first. Once on top, we located the "better" trail further left and took that for the descent. Once back at the saddle we worked our way back down to Hidden Lake and back on-trail to reach the parking area. Total distance was around 9.5-10.5 depending on whose GPS track you believe. Elevation was more consistent around 3,400' total ascent/descent. Remember to save some energy for the last mile, as it has about 500' up to get back to parking. Everyone was successful for both peaks and we had one student complete their experience scrambles toward course graduation. Great weather, great views, great group of motivated scramblers!