Home > Trip Reports > June 2-4, '13 Daniel (Lynch Gl) - Hinman (Foss Gl)

June 2-4, '13 Daniel (Lynch Gl) - Hinman (Foss Gl)

6/2/13
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
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Posted by cprahl on 6/6/13 11:01pm
A quick heads-up for access to Mt Daniel and Mt Hinman as approached from Cle Elum River Road (FS 4330).

Scatter Creek Crossing was high on late afternoon of 6/4 (~2' deep outbound) but road is open to end (Tucquala Meadows). Skiable snow starts at ~4400' on approach trail #1345 to Squaw Lk. A bit of booting needed to get around S-SW side of Cathedral Rock, then solid snow from there to summits of Daniel & Hinman. Alpine nectar above & beyond as reported in Oyvind's July 2012 TR.

Lynch Glacier is in great condition pre-noon, as is Foss Glacier on NE side of Hinman. 'Camped at Pea Soup Lake (still crossable on skis; open water at outflow) & summit of Hinman. Return via Hinman-Daniel col and Daniel's SW slope to summit (again); a nice figure-8 loop of two fun ski mtns. Worthy terrain with plenty of route/descent options.

Snow conditions are predictably spring-like though a bit soft. Get it early, and beware glide cracks. Pollen build-up ("Cascade Klister") is variable but warrants a good scraper+Citri-solv. Plenty of afternoon snow worms. How do they winter over?
Excellent report from an area I would like to go someday!
Nice tracks on Lynch too!
Love the stream crossing in the rig quite an effort!

Wow, that looks like a great trip!  I'm not sure I would have had the guts to cross that river.

Nice one, Crispin. The front license plate from my old car is still in that stream somewhere.

Thanks for the report Crispin. I'm glad David was able to drive his truck and the clouds finally blew through. Now that I'm back from my business trip, I've had time to go through my pictures from the ski trip more carefully. I'm posting a few below.


Historical motivations:  Mt Daniel in the 1950s.  Photo by Bob and Ira Spring.




June 3, 2013: Crispin skiing across Pea Soup Lake:




Climbing Foss Glacier on Mt Hinman after an afternoon run on the second day:




Day three: Sunrise on Mt Hinman:




David greets the new day from the summit:




Skiing Foss Glacier on the third day:




"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible."




I've been wanting to revisit this area since hurrying through it during the Alpine Lakes Traverse a few years ago. This trip really satisfied the itch.


Super cool.  Thanks for the details.  I've been wanting to get here one day too.  ... Some day... sigh.

Lowell, the pictures from years past are excellent and very inspirational.

The first video clip on the following page shows the first ski descent of Mount Hinman by Dwight Watson, Dave Lind, Charlie Cehrs, Dean Thompson and Gene Paxton in 1944:

http://mountaineers.org/history/notes/movie/dw-8mm-movies.html

Watson's party approached Mount Hinman via the East Fork Foss River. I think they skied the NE-facing Foss Glacier, not the NW-facing Hinman Glacier. That's consistent with what the film shows.

author=danpeck link=topic=28759.msg120994#msg120994 date=1370736716]
Lowell, the pictures from years past are excellent and very inspirational.


Hi Dan,

I see that my post was ambiguous, so I edited it. The pictures I posted aren't from past years (except for the Bob and Ira Spring picture). They're from the same trip that Crispin described.

Aha.  Still.. the photos are inspiring!  I'll get there soon.

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2013-06-07 06:01:33