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b00
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b00
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PostThu Jul 09, 2020 9:36 pm 
hawkins+thimble 7-8-2020
quick and dirty route description: drive to salmon la sac, and continue up the cle elum valley rd(4330) ~5mi, then right at unsigned jct just short of camp creek up road #4330, go ~.3mi and take right (either park at jct and hike or) drive narrow road .5mi to end, limited parking. hike boulder creek tail south to ~3650' and take unmarked trail left uphill to ridge, follow ridge and trail up to about 6600' then descend ese toward the thimble. ascend thimble's climber's left side(climber's right also works), and then traverse easy terrain around north side to the thimble east saddle. scramble ledge on s side and then class 4 scramble to summit, or take a direct line from east saddle low 5th.
although i have been up hawkins multiple times, from multiple directions, been over to the thimble too, it was still crazy fun. probably because we did it way different than i had before. a ways after we left salmon la sac on cle elum valley road, a big pickup roared past us , just before we turned off and too our surprise, was headed to the same trailhead we were. the reason, we would learn was he was afraid of getting blocked in on the small parking area. no worries. he hiked the pleasant hike and once we could see the route to thimble, we headed down some moderately steep dirt, which was perfect for walking on, but i bet gets a lot firmer and more difficult after a dry spell. from the valley floor, it was very pleasant walking across. as we ascended from the valley up toward the thimble, i told the others we previously approached it from the climber's right. as was to be a theme for the day, the others wanted climber's left. hey, why not? it got a wee bit loose near the ridge, but the whole off-trail portion was much nicer than i anticipated. it probably went well, since everyone operated quite well in that type of terrain. once up to ridge, cal found a very nice class 2 ramp around the north side of the thimble. once over to east side of the summit block, we all scoped out the route. cal with years of yosemite, index, alpine and points in between experience, saw the route quite differently than i. without me saying anything, he figured out where i had went before, the ramp on the south side(class 4) and saw a very aesthetic route straight up the se corner, which he headed up. his son nate and i followed cal's route soon after. once on top, he quickly set up a belay and offered us a rope, but neither nate nor i wanted it. it was really nice climbing. low 5th class super solid, big enough handholds. very exposed. asa did the class 4 ramp i used the last trip up. we all had fun and were smiling on the summit. i wished i had brought a register. we all did a belayed downclimb of cal's low 5th route, using a perfectly situated large rock horn that cal had put a double runner around. i personally like to return the way i came, as you have less problems, but we did this so quickly(especially considering that we belayed. usually when a rope comes out, time evaporates, but that is the benefit of climbing with experienced people - things get done a whole lot more efficiently) anyway, everyone wanted to take the ridge over to hawkins and so who am i to disagree. the ridge took a little working - sometimes over the top of it, sometimes one side, sometimes another. nate led most of the ridge. everyone enjoyed it. it is always so much fun to be with friends. without any real issues made our way over to join modern on hawkins summit(he had been up the thimble with me previously and used this time to take a very nice summit nap :>) we all had a great time walking down. worht saying again, it is so much fun to be out with friends, i think we all were surprised that the day had gone by so fast :>) ps - the gps obviously shows an error on the topo, as everyone knows none of us would be stupid enough to start going down the wrong ridge. right? :>) 7.96mi 4275' gain 4:02 car to thimble summit 0:29 summit stay 1:40 thimble summit to hawkins summit 0:18 summit stay 1:56 hawkins summit to car 8:26 car to car equipment: ~35m rope, slings, couple of cams equipment brought, but not used: ice axe, crampons

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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostThu Jul 09, 2020 10:06 pm 
For being such a minor sub-summit you really made me envious about getting on top of the thimble. But thanks for the driving instructions. I've never approached from the west.

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