Twin Lakes - Monte Cristo

The Twin Lakes route follows the old Monte Cristo railroad grade up the South Fork Sauk for the first four miles, climbs into the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness past the Monte Cristo townsite, and tops out at Poodle Dog Pass before dropping into the lake basin under Columbia Peak. Seventeen miles round trip, twenty-nine hundred feet of gain, and a final five hundred feet that approaches scrambling on loose talus.

Monte Cristo itself is a draw of its own. The 1890s mining town sits in a flat at the base of Wilmans Peaks, with collapsed buildings, rusting machinery, and tailing piles still scattered across the meadow. Past the townsite the route becomes its own trip — a steep climb to Poodle Dog Pass, then a descent into the basin where Twin Lakes sit ringed by hemlock and silver fir.

Mining left a contamination legacy. The water below Monte Cristo carries arsenic and other heavy metals from the tailings; treat what you drink and choose sources upstream of the townsite. The trail past Silver Lake gets faint and routefinding becomes the work. Wilmans Peaks rise to the north, Columbia Peak to the east — the basin holds enough beauty to justify the long effort but the country is unforgiving of underpreparation.