Home > Trip Reports > July 7, 2012, Mt. Daniel/Lynch Glacier, nutty exit

July 7, 2012, Mt. Daniel/Lynch Glacier, nutty exit

7/7/12
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
4711
7
Posted by Big Steve on 7/8/12 2:12am
Randy (shrub) and I have been talking for awhile about skiing the Lynch Glacier.  Randy suggested that we exit via a route he had previously descended on foot, E over the Lynch Draw saddle and down the steep ground N of The (Daniel Creek) Chasm we have viewed from the Paddy-Granite ridge.
 
8AM start.  Walked the trail to 1km or so above Squaw Lake, where we started skinning.  Talked to a Boy Scout group near Cathedral Pass.  Way trail around Cathedral Rock to Peggy€™s Pond is partially melted out.  Met Jonn-E and friend at Peggy€™s Pond.

Ascended the Hyas Creek Glacier cirque and standard scramble death-by-cheesgrater route around S side of W peak, passing two descending climbers.  Walked ridge to top of Lynch Glacier.

Very fun turns on Lynch Glacier down to frozen Pea Soup Lake and then up to the Lynch Draw saddle.  My map and pics here
Cool route. Chasm looks fascinating.

author=JimH link=topic=25313.msg106954#msg106954 date=1341773614]
Cool route. Chasm looks fascinating.


I second that! I love creative routes and it looks like a great ski. Thanks for sharing Steve and Randy.  That chasm looked barely skiable (was it?), but looks to be fantastic when filled...

We did not ski The Chasm yesterday.  In theory, if one could find a way in, it might earlier in the season, but it and the approach would be very prone to avys.  If you've been up to Robin Lakes or the ridge between Paddy-Go-Easy Pass and Robin (Sherpani, Granite), you've seen The Chasm. 

That Chasm looks like this with snow. This is from 5/1/2011.


Mystery skier checking in.  I don't know if you guys saw us turn around but we called it a day halfway up the Hyas Creek cirque.  That bowl turned into a convection oven the likes of which I have never before experienced...simply unreal, and unpleasant in the extreme.  We followed your tracks up the right side but were having a lot of trouble getting up the steep grade.  I don't know if you remember me bitchin about my momix skins but they were not holding on to the slop.  While waiting/roasting to death for my buddy at the top of the grade, he fell while out of sight near the top doing a transition, and slid the whole length of that chute area.  He was already severely gassed in the heat so feeling lucky that he didn't torque something we called it a day.  In retrospect we should have skinned up the middle of the valley where the slope actually looked gentler or just booted the section.

Anyways we enjoyed some nice turns down that big middle slope and an easy glide to Peggy's to pick up my trash stash.  Kinda wished I hadn't left it because skirting Cathedral on the East looked mighty tempting and snow-filled.  The hike back up the trail/scramble around the west side in ski boots in the heat of the afternoon was as miserable as it sounds.  Skied down to Squaw Lake, picked up the shoes (dumb mistake, shoulda brought those the whole way!) and walked out through swollen creeks.  Lots and lots of people heading up, but no other skiers  8)

Essential Gear notes:
1. Shoes the whole way
2. SPF50
3. Lienenkugel's Summer Shandy
4. Village Pizza

Good to see you up there, Jonn-E.  Yeah, the Hyas Creek Glacier cirque was an oven.  Randy and I were moving pretty slow up there.  A breeze made it much better after we topped out on the ridge.  Randy's line up the right side of the cirque was not the best line -- we descended 100' verts or so to get back to the right place, but not a big deal.  That steeper slope up to below the E peak is unavoidable unless you go way left and do an oblique rightward traverse above the melted out rocks.  (I usually go that way later season).

Hope to run into you again.

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Big Steve
2012-07-08 09:12:07