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Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble - Silver, Tinkham & Abiel Peaks

A successful three peak adventure on a hot sunny day.

Paul Kallmann Paul Kallmann
September 02, 2024
  • Road rough but passable

  • FS 9070 has potholes in places, but is in overall decent shape.

    PCT, trail to the Tinkham Ridge, and trails to Abiel and Silver Peaks are all in good shape.  One blowdown tree over the PCT.

    Weather was very warm.  Clear skies becoming hazy in the afternoon

    Huckleberries are at peak ripeness

We met at North Bend Park and Ride and carpooled up to Windy Pass / Silver Peak TH.  We were on our way at 8:15.  We traveled 1.7 miles south on the PCT to the intersection with the side trail that would get us to the Tinkham/Silver saddle at 4,760 feet.  There were three trail runners coming town from Tinkham who told us that the trail was in good shape, so we headed up the steep unmaintained trail to the base of the final pinnacle.  The scramble moves were Class 2 with one step that had a class 3 move due to minor exposure. 

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Our group quickly ascended up the rocks and up to our summit.  After snacks and an obligatory summit shot, we descended back to the saddle the same way we came up.

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Back at the saddle, we found the trail that would take us to Abiel.  The trail was pretty straightforward.  There was some scree and one big scramble step, but in no time at all we were at the summit of Abiel.

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Tinkham5.jpgWe descended Abiel and instead of going all the way back to the intersection with the Silver Peak trail, we found an unmaintained trail on the west side of the high point at 5,050 ft and traversed north to the intersection with the Silver Peak trail at 4,920 feet.  From there we followed the hiking trail up to Silver Peak.  The trail had quite a bit of scree and loose rock, but the trail was easy to follow.  We reached our summit, enjoyed our lunches and brownies, and then it was time to head down.

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We followed the trail back down to the saddle at 4,760 feet and then down to the PCT and out to the cars at 5pm where a cooler of cold beverages were awaiting our return. 

The group was a lot of fun.   We were slowed a little bit by the heat (it was 80 degrees at the top of Abiel and 81 at the top of Silver), but the group had a great attitude and we all felt that our three peak challenge was a huge success.

Final Stats:  7.5 miles, 3,065 feet gained

https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=13.9/-121.4544/47.3558&pubLink=JIRPXkqqdVXcplkW1W1yntEC&trackId=4c139e0a-a175-4d35-b55a-816daa381a5e