[b00]

daniel circumnavigation-mons venus+hinman+lynch 7-11 - 7-13-2019

east hinman lake. dip top left, daniel right

i had been dreaming about this trip for far more than a decade after i first read about it. i vaguely remember near the beginning of the millennium seeing some pics posted by big steve or a member of his party, that just piqued my interest. i espeically remember hearing about the daniel/hinman saddle. over the years i made my way up daniel numerous times and routes, the citadel, lynch and dip top. so i had already done or figured out more than half of the loop, but still the lure of the circumnavigation lingered. after researching, planning and preparing for it for so long, i was finally going to see if i could make it work. quick and dirty route info: hike to peggys pond, continue on boot path that heads nw from n end of peggys pond, stay on path to 6240' and then traverse s, then continue traversing w until you can see where you need to go to get to circle lake outlet(good camps). from outlet ascend sw to 6200, then do a rising wsw traverse(some cairns) to the saddle n of the citadel's flying buttress. from saddle n of citadel's flying buttress (either descend straight down to ~6300 and then traverse nw or) do a descending traverse to 6200. then follow cairns through cliffs descending wsw to ~5900, then nw to the outlet of venus lake. well below average camp sites with great views. better camp sites, if dry, a little w of the mons venus n saddle. ascend mons venus from venus lake via east face(the obvious route to the cleft works well) (class 2, maybe easy 3). from venus lake ascend path to saddle above and w of venus lake, n of mons venus. from saddle, descend w to 5860, then traverse sw through trees to the scree which will get you into the easy terrain in the valley. in valley, traverse ~0.5mi at ~5400, and doing rising traverse to the daniel/hinman saddle. good camp a little south of saddle, below the obelisk. from d/h saddle, descend n(danger rockfall) down until you can ascend broad ramp that leads up to lower east hinman lakes. from s of the lake, do a rising nw, then w, traverse(wonderful slabs and broken rock) up to glacier ~6400', then sw up snow to summit(climber's left high point), descend the same way back down to 5800' s of hinman lakes, then descend nne down valley(rockfall danger!!!) to ~5300, where you begin a rising ene traverse to pea soup outlet ascend either side(class 3 slabs) of outlet(can wade across outlet at top, or part way up) to pea soup lake. from the north side of the outlet of pea soup lake, ascend straight up, ne, to ~6600', to where the slope meets the cliffs, then traverse generally ne, to reach dip top gap. good camp. from dip top gap, ascend lynch w ridge slightly on the n side(climber's left)(loose class 3*) to ~6850, then begin easy traversing 400' e, then ascend easy small gully at whose top, begin a ene traverse to the summit. from lynch summit descend s to 6600', then traverse to easy terrain you can descend to lynch draw. from lynch draw traverse at ~6400 s and then e across the e side of daniel to saddle just west pt6350, from which follow cairns and paths down to peggys pond and the trail back. after doing the cathedral rock loop a few weeks prior, i probably should refer to this as the crazy 8 loop part two :>)

outlet of circle lake

east hinman lake. dip top left, daniel right

the daniel/hinman saddle obelisk

venus lake

hinman

testing the crossing of pea soup outlet

dip top gap

dip top gap

west ridge of lynch

cathedral rock

traversing to circle lake

above circle lake

above shovel lake

above venus lake

venus lake and mons venus

venus lake

descending from daniel/hinman saddle

venus lake

hinman slabs. dip top left, daniel right

cooler heads prevailing

on hinman

pea soup outlet

after crossing pea soup outlet, hinman in clouds

pea soup outlet

pea soup outlet

traversing to dip top gap(center left), pea soup lake below

dip top gap

dip top gap - pea soup lake, daniel

lynch

route down from the west side of the saddle west of venus lake and north of mons venus

route down from the west side of the saddle west of venus lake and north of mons venus

mons venus route

blake had hit me up with an idea for a three day trip. so with a forecast that showed good weather by chelan, we started planning a really cool loop that included camels hump. we were both so excited about it, until we came across info that a bunch of the on-trail portion and probably much of the off-trail too, was trashed by last year's fire. reconsulting the forecast, especially looking at the daniel area, sealed the deal(even though it proved to be a blown forecast with regards to clouds :<( ). blake and i have not done a lot together over the ten years we have known each other, a few peaks a year, but we've had fun. in 2016, we did the nearby alpine lakes high route. he also had joined me in 2012 for one of my many trips up daniel. he was the perfect partner and when i proposed the daniel circumnavigation, he agreed wholeheartedly. although a few weeks prior some other partners had planned to do this as a two day trip with me, i would more and more come to realize that a three day trip would be better, especially when adding a side trip up hinman. although i had done tons of research and communicated with many people, there were still some unknowns - could we find a class 2/3 route up mons venus? could we find a class 2/3 route to descend west from saddle west of venus lake(numerous people reported class 4 or 5)? was the bowling alley between east hinman lakes and the pea soup outlet safe? ... starting at the standard cathedral rock trailhead, we took an easy pace and surprisingly did not see a soul. not at the t/h, on the trail, at squaw lake, nor at peggys pond and we would not see anyone for the next few days until we returned to peggys pond. it was overcast and sometimes a little windy, but that was great for hiking in and keeping the bugs down. we made easy progress to peggys pond, and started on some sort of path that seemed to go where we wanted, which was the se shoulder of daniel up to ~6300. after which we traversed in easy terrain where it seemed others had traversed, and then traversed around the corner until we could see the route and descend to the circle lake outlet.(looking at the shapes of circle lake and venus, makes one wonder if the names were reversed?) the route from circle lake outlet(good camps) to the citadel n shoulder, which we had scoped out while descending to circle lake, was obvious and exactly how it looked like it would be. along the way a few cairns found us(we were not looking). we had made nice progress, but sadly the citadel was fogged in. i offered to wait for blake to hit it, but he declined. visibility was not great, so we followed matt's out track from the citadel saddle toward venus lake. it was miserable side-hilling in scree :<( we soon realized, we could bail from his track and just head straight down to easier travel and soon made it to the tarns and cliffs se and above venus lake. what a beautiful spot. we did not see any great camp sites, but there might be some beauties hiding. we followed the numerous cairns, which agreed with matt's track, down until we could see the way to the lake. while heading down to venus lake, we looked carefully at the east face of mons venus. others had done the north ridge, but reported stiff, class 5, at one spot. the east face at first looked impossible, but we were looking straight on(everything looks steeper looking straight on). soon though, we could really see a route we thought would work. we had brought wading shoes, but there were some sticks to cross mons venus's outlet, which blake did with grace. unfortunately, i cannot say the same about my crossing. although my dip in the water did not get all my stuff wet, it soaked my boots. wet boots on day one of a three day trip was not fully appreciated until night two, when the bacteria in my wets socks provided excellent tent ambiance :<( there were not great camp sites near venus lake, but we set up camp. unfortunately, one of my tent poles broke :<( blake got his phd in engineering and between the two of us, we were able to craft a pole splint using tent stakes and gorilla duct tape that would hold up for both nights. the lake was beautiful, even with low clouds limiting our visibility. soon we set off to see if our route idea would work for mons venus. we had read that randy had found class 2/3 goat ledges and ramps. someone else said the east face looked really loose. the closer we got, the easier it looked and it was. we zig-zagged up to the notch on the north ridge and then easily to the summit. if there was any class 3, we did not encounter or remember it. with normal care in walking, nothing seemed any more loose than most other mountains in the area. no rocks were sent flying, although if we would have tried, we could have sent a few loose. i cannot believe anyone could find a better way up. yet, i do know lots of people could get a better view than we did - the summit shrouded in clouds - as unfortunately, all three summits we attained on the trip would prove to be :<( from the summit, we tried to see if we could spy a good way down the to the valley to the west, but the north ridge impeded our views. we signed the register and had a casual return to camp. getting from venus lake to the valley south of the daniel/hinman saddle was a worry. i had not heard of anyone having an easy time with it, unless there was snow. but i had looked carefully at the satellite imagery, maps and used reason. the steeper terrain west of the saddle is to the northwest, which is the way most people would travel, but imagery and maps seemed to imply that if we descended the exact opposite direction, southwest, it would be a wee bit longer, but far easier. in the morning we walked the gentle terrain up to the saddle north of mons venus and west of venus lake and started scouting for a route. we immediately found numerous excellent potential campsites(dried tarns) and water, that would have been a much better camp than at venus lake. just as i suspected, we could not find anything that looked easy heading northwest, but descending southwest was a cakewalk, class 2 and soon we were in the valley and traversing over toward the daniel/hinman saddle. just before we reached it, we found this cool obelisk guarding the daniel/hinman saddle(a little south of the obelisk was also another nice potential camp with water). at the saddle, we had a decision: head up hinman's east ridge or take the known route, which we had a track for, from east hinman lakes. the east ridge looked doable, but we could see the whole thing, so we passed on it. at the daniel/hinman saddle we saw some human footprints that seemed recent, but never did see anyone or any other signs from them. we continued on easy terrain, near recent rockfall, over to near east hinman lakes. i think i actually saw a possible reasonable camp site next to the lower lake! we decided to leave one pack and take turns carrying the other(after emptying the unnecessary stuff) and headed up hinman. first we encountered just marvelous, beautiful and easy to move on slabs - practically class 1 and then easy snow. by the time we made it to the summit, it became apparent the route we did not take, the east ridge, probably would have worked, been shorter distance and less gain, but it would have been more work, took longer and way less fun. we had got lucky and took the best route again! after the snow ,a couple of minutes of dinner plate rocks took us to hinman's summit, but our views were again clouded :<( on the pleasant walk back to our pack, we were able to see a portion of the route over to the pea soup outlet and everything looked, as it turned out to be, reasonable. exiting down from east hinman lakes led us to a bowling alley that would take us over toward the pea soup outlet. we were only in the bowling alley a few minutes and fortunately the clouds were blocking the sun and no rocks came down while we were in it(blake heard a couple fall while we were on hinman), there were numerous rocks that rested on top of the snow, so they must have recently fell. not as bad of an area as i suspected, but not a great place to repeatedly travel or hang out in. we were really unsure of where we could cross the pea soup outlet(we could have waded knee deep across numerous places, included at the top of the outlet at the lake), we decided to cross the first reasonable spot and then ascended the cool slabs on the north side of the outlet. we needed to do some routefinding to keep it reasonable. i think blake did class 3 max. i did mostly class 2/3, but a few sections i found such wonderful rock and scrambling that i just did not bother to avoid the 4th class. the track we had from the lake to the gap did not make sense. it appeared go through some very loose, terrible terrain. maybe some part of the mountain came off in between when the track was made and when we got there. no matter, just headed up from the lake to the cliff wall, underneath which there appeared to be, and was, reasonable ramps and ledges that we took on over to dip top gap. fortunately no one was already at the one good campsite. the whole trip, we took turns leading, helping each other, sharing and supporting. with great partners, that is just how it works and it works with ease. i can't believe my great fortune to have so many of them and that blake was able to make this trip happen. now the trip was in the bag. because there would not have been a view, blake was not interested in doing dip top(i really was not that interested in going up for a third time). the wind was enough again to keep most bugs at bay and we had a very satisfying dinner, knowing everything basically had worked out. in the morning, we did the scramble up the west ridge of lynch. after doing lynch the first time, i never really figured i would ever do it again. i mean, it is not that bad, i just never considered it. same thing with the second time a few weeks prior. now blake wanted to do it, so, even though it was again clouded in, i gladly joined him. i was a little worried with less snow, the descent and then the traverse across the east face of hinman go well, but i worried needlessly. we easily found excellent ways to go and had a joyous traverse. buoyed by the vibes we felt from our excellent trip and interesting people we encountered along that last part on the trail, we floated back to the car. too bad our excellent adventure had to end :>) day one - 10.19mi 5214' gain (including ~900' gain to ascend mons venus) 7:09 car to camp at venus lake 0:37 set up camp and take a break 0:51 venus lake camp to mons venus summit 0:08 summit stay 0:59 mons venus summit to venus lake camp 9:44 day one total day two - 7.77mi 4388' gain (including ~2.5mi 1700' gain side trip to hinman) 4:16 venus lake camp to near east hinman lakes(including 0:22 scouting route down from mons venus saddle) 0:16 break 1:43 near east hinman lakes to hinman summit 0:20 summit stay 0:42 hinman summit to near east hinman lakes 0:16 break 3:10 near east hinman lakes to dip top gap(including 0:19 at pea soup lake) 11:35 day two total day three - 9.82mi 1742' gain 1:53 dip top gap to lynch peak 0:27 summit stay 7:03 lynch peak to car 9:23 day three total total 27.78mi 11344' gain * i don't want to sandbag anyone. i definitely am not into forcing, coercing, nor intimidating others into doing something they don't want to do. each of the three times i have attempted to ascend lynch's w ridge from dip top gap, i have found it easy, but most, if not all of the other people have felt uncomfortable. the first time, none of the party wanted to do it. the second time, i found a super exposed, very intimidating, loose, but easy route that was rejected, but fortunately as a group, we were able to find something that all were able to do, but it was not comfortable for the others. the third time, my partner felt very uncomfortable with the exposure, but was able to do it when i carried their pack through a particular section for them. equipment: ice axe, crampons, helmet, creek crossing shoes equipment brought, but not used: crampons, 30m rope references: email from big steve(thank you so much!), track from gabriel and marmot for the hinman to dip top gap section(thank you so much!), track from matt b for circle lake to venus lake(thank you so much!), email from opus(thank you so much!), nwhikers t/r's from matt, opus, randy and the schmidts

[reststep]

Great report, great pictures and great beta. Thank you.

[iron]

is this trip in WA?

[contour5]

Super Magnifico! I started the same trip on the same day and made it less than half way in the time that it took you to complete your circumnavigation. A million, billion thanks for such a well documented TR, complete with maps with circles and arrows and red lines to suggest the general drift of things. Some may object but I would contend that this is masterclass trip reporting. It definitely cleared up a few conundrums for me, and I'll make good use of the beta when I go back.

[NorthwestWanderer]

Awesome TR even more awesome pics and scenery! Book marking this one for when I ever wanna hit up the ALW

[raising3hikers]

So happy you got that circumnavigation trip in! Also like that you're catching up on your TR's

[cascadetraverser]

Wow Boo....looks like you are turning into a traverser!!!! Nice report...this one is definitely on my list. Appreciate the great Beta...