Sacajawea Peak Climber's Log

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mRak - Jul 26, 2020 2:21 pm Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2018

Matterhorn and Sacajawea via Ice Lake  Sucess!

Hiked from Wallowa State Park to Ice Lake and spent the night. Ascended the Matterhorn from Ice Lake via a well worn climbers' trail, then walked along the ridge north to Sacajawea. The ridge walk does not have a discernable trail for its entire length, but it is easy enough to follow, and at times you can clearly see where previous peak baggers had traversed.

There is a minor peak between the Matterhorn and Sacajawea. I attempted to skirt this to the west on my return trip (as I did not want to climb it again out of laziness) and found myself in scree hell. It was far from dangerous, but I expended a lot of energy not losing elevation.

There are some fun gendarmes to navigate between the minor peak and Sacajawea. Nothing too difficult, and you shouldn't need to rope up unless your tolerance for exposure is nonexistent. I would classify the route as easy Class 4. Others have classified the route as Class 3. Just take a few minutes before tackling each gendarme to consider your route.

I returned to Ice Lake and hiked out the following day. If you get to the trailhead early enough, it would be possible to bag this peak in a long day. It took me four and a half hours to hike to Ice Lake (with a 30 lb pack), six to bag Sacajawea and return to the lake (with time spent enjoying the views from both summits), and four to pack out. But Ice Lake is beautiful, with well spaced campsites, and deserving of a night's stay.

mattcookoregon

mattcookoregon - Aug 19, 2019 10:25 am

Summit from Matterhorn  Sucess!

Good times! Be safe out there. Here is a video showing the summit process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUF8JwlU0S8

cascadescrambler

cascadescrambler - Aug 7, 2019 9:27 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 1994

Long day  Sucess!

We camped at Ice Lake and scrambled this and Matterhorn the same day. Serenaded by coyotes across the lake from our camp.

utclimber - Jul 26, 2018 7:11 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2018

Hurricane Creek  Sucess!

Hiked up Sacajawea from the Hurricane Creek trailhead (ultra 41).

gimpilator

gimpilator - Oct 20, 2017 2:34 pm Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2017

35 peaks in 16 days  Sucess!

Road trip! Did this ridge traverse the day after Eagle Cap. Trip report

Harvest

Harvest - Sep 11, 2017 5:12 pm Date Climbed: Sep 10, 2017

South Ridge  Sucess!

Matterhorn-Sacajawea Ridge (South Ridge)(Class 3) from Matterhorn via Ice Lake approach. There's a couple exposed class 4 moves on the ridge proper that can be avoided if one desires.

triyoda

triyoda - Sep 4, 2017 2:13 am Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2017

Traverse from Matterhorn  Sucess!

A few exposed Class 3 moves

YEM

YEM - Jul 12, 2016 9:41 pm Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2016

Wallowa Traverse  Sucess!

Josh and I traveled from Chief Joseph Mountain and the Hurwal Divide. Looking down on Ice Lake and up at the SacajaHorn massif was quite an experience. After sleeping on the 9770 ft. peak, we made our way to the Matterhorn and back home. I would highly recommend the traverse from Sacajawea to the Matterhorn. The rock formations are reason enough to make the journey.

Dennis Poulin

Dennis Poulin - Jun 9, 2016 3:47 pm Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2003

Beautiful area  Sucess!

Hiked with Dean and Bob

Brian Kalet

Brian Kalet - Aug 26, 2015 8:31 pm Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2015

Hurricane Creek  Sucess!

Smoke...

jcarrdive

jcarrdive - Oct 23, 2014 1:29 pm

Re: Thorp Creek

What a bummer the Viz was bad. It is spectacular up there. The view of the Matterhorn is second to none from that vantage point. I hope you can go back, as it is worth a second trip. Great trip report, by the way.
We summited via the ridge from the Matterhorn and Peak 9775, via Ice Lake. If you get a chance, that is a very fun route.

jcarrdive

jcarrdive - Oct 23, 2014 1:26 pm

Re: Great Introduction To The Wallowas

The crossing to Peak 9775 and Matterhorn is not too bad. The section from Sac to 9775 is the most difficult. A few jendarmes (spelling?) that make you a tiny bit mervous, but they really are not hard.
Wallowas are the best of Oregon, you are right.

coreyrnelson

coreyrnelson - Oct 19, 2014 1:14 am Date Climbed: Oct 12, 2014

Summit on Hurwal

Beautiful day!!! Snow fell the night before hiding the trail by thorpe creek. Up higher it made walking on the scree more challenging than just miserable scree. I did not know which way the route to Sacajawea went and ended up summiting a peak on the Hurwal Divide. Did not have time to traverse the ridge to the summit so I headed back but all in all a great day!

scgrant

scgrant - Jul 26, 2014 12:23 am Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2014

Sacajawea Peak  Sucess!

Absolutely unbelievable hike. We followed the Hurricane Creek/ Thorpe Creek route. One of the more impressive mountains I have ever climbed. The views from the summit out towards the Matterhorn and the rest of the Wallowas were fantastic. Perfectly clear day, minus some smoke from a forest fire that had started that morning in the vicinity. Oregon CoHP #5 on the trip. We did Spanish Peak (Wheeler CoHP) later that evening.

seano

seano - Jun 27, 2014 3:59 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2014

Thorp Creek  Sucess!

A classic no-view day with drizzle. DO NOT lose the trail on the way down, else ye shall suffer. Trip report.

locke456

locke456 - Oct 7, 2013 10:42 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2011

Great Introduction To The Wallowas  Sucess!

Route: Thorpe Creek

The Wallowas are hands down my favorite mountain range. Sacajawea was my first summit there and the Thorpe Creek route was a good introduction. Had some trouble finding the trail as it disappears for a bit in the Thorpe Creek meadow, but once I picked it up from there it was a pleasant enough hike to the cirque, which made a great camping spot (though don't camp to close to the walls, mountain goats were kicking rockslides down at me throughout the night!).

Would have loved to traverse to the Matterhorn or maybe to Hurwal (which I think is possible?) but I was too green at the time and was happy with my single summit.

nlahue

nlahue - Sep 7, 2013 4:08 pm Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2013

Thorpe Creek  Sucess!

Climbed via thorpe creek. Backpacked into thorpe creek sent up a tent and climbed from there. Meant to do it with matterhorn but I was impatient and decided to climb once i was in camp rather than wait till the next morning so summited too late to traverse. Thorpe creek was pretty quiet for labor day

Redwic

Redwic - Jul 30, 2013 7:27 am Date Climbed: Jul 26, 2013

Nice Hike  Sucess!

The Thorp Creek Trail is not the boogeyman trail some people have made it out to be. Finding the trail entrance is not too difficult, and the trail is in great shape. A climber's path leads up the NE ridge of the mountain, too. Overall, this was a great approach and great peak. 4h30m up, 3h30m down. My 25th Ultra and my 28th OR CoHP.

droot

droot - Sep 25, 2012 10:00 am Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2012

Fun scramble  Sucess!

Summited at about 11:15 AM after traversing the ridge from Matterhorn. Fun scramble, and beautiful views throughout. Lots of smoke at the time we went though.

Nick Turtura

Nick Turtura - Sep 8, 2012 9:46 pm Date Climbed: Sep 8, 2012

Pretty sweet  Sucess!

Amazing climb after a LONG approach. The climb up thorp creek was as hard as the mountain itself. I do have a few additions to the route description. Mark the Thorp creek junction before and after the mudslide on your GPS. After the high meadow on Thorp creek don't follow the creek up to the gap at the cirque. Hang a right and look for a trail that skips all the loose stuff. It should go right up to that east ridge. I found it on the way down and realized it would have saved some headache. (I put as many cairns as I could to mark it.) Lastly, the description says to travers the left slopes from the ridge. You got me?? Just follow that East ridge all the way, there is a great trail. If you lose the trail for more that 100 feet you're off it and should be looking for it. It was a piece of cake other than I kept looking for a place to travers off the east ridge. Thanks for the rest of the info it was spot on.

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