July 5, 2014, Mt. Daniel and Lynch Glacier

Frank and I headed eastward to ski Mt. Daniel and the Lynch Glacier. An early start from Seattle, got us off from the trailhead just after 7AM. Snow patches appear on the trail around 4700 feet but it's not worth donning skis until getting up to 5200-5300 ft in the flatter basin heading towards Cathedral Pass (we just walked to the pass). Largely continuous snow from there to the pass with the occasional short patch of bare ground.

The trail from Cathedral Pass to Peggy's Pond is largely snow free until you get right near the Pond, above which coverage is great. We met a nice group of three (whose names I'm forgetting) out as part of an overnighter who were heading in the same direction and gave us some nice beta. We arrived at the Pond 2.5 hours after leaving the car. There we donned our skis and skins and headed up the Hyas Creek Glacier drainage. We stayed skiers right, climbing up that side to the milder slopes below the east peak of Daniel. We cut over the saddle to the south of the east peak but judging from what we saw later in the day, it would have been feasible to ski across the top of the Daniel Glacier to get to the true summit and the top of the Lynch Glacier.

On the other side of the saddle, we carried the skis a short bit traversing on the west side of the east peak before putting the skis on again. One more short carry near the middle peak and then skis on again for the last little bit to the saddle at the top of the Lynch Glacier. Great views from there including one of a big lenticular over Rainier. We headed down around 1PM, finding great skiing on the Lynch Glacier. It didn't appear to have frozen overnight but the base is very firm and the skiing on the soft snow was good on steeper aspects. Smooth surface with minimal cups, but a bit slow and grabby in flatter sections. Some cracks opening up but nothing big and easy to avoid. Continuous snow down to Pea Soup Lake.

We skinned across the lake and around the ridge separating the Lynch and Daniel drainages. The lake is still frozen but there's some blue sections opening up near the edges and it may not be so for long. We traversed at 6300 feet below the Daniel Glacier and then climbed up onto the ridge above the Hyas Creek Glacier without problems. The Daniel Glacier looked to be in good shape with few cracks showing. We then dropped down onto the Hyas Creek Glacier. A bit more runnels here but easy to find good turns, while down lower on the glacier, steeper aspects had a pretty good surface but anything flatter is starting to get a lot of sun cups.

From the Pond, we headed out, taking about the same 2.5 hours to get out as it took to get in. We kept skis on for part of the trip on the east side of Cathedral Pass, taking advantage of skins turned ski protectors to speed the trip, until finally running out of terrain where it made sense. We were back at the car 11 hours after leaving in the morning.

It's more of a tour than a trip for a big descent but quite pretty back there and lots of solitude.