Rinker Peak

Route: Twin Peaks B Saddle Descent after Rinker Peak
Posted On: 10/26/2024, By: mjlucarelli
Info: Pretty much summer conditions. Snow was minimal, but I did cross some deeper snow to gain the ridge between Rinker and Twin Peaks without issue. A little ice was on the first log crossing and a small section of the Willis Gulch Trail but I didn't need any traction or gators. Get this peak before the next storm! 

Route: Twin Peaks B Saddle Descent after Rinker Peak
Posted On: 8/17/2024, By: samuelbaird
Info: Summer conditions. Trail is 99% dry with some muddy sections near the creek. No snow on any south face route, watch out for loose rock though! 

Route: Twin Peaks B Saddle Descent after Rinker Peak
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Summer conditions. All the snow thats left up high is avoidable and no glissades to be had. We were able to pick our lines and stay on grass/dirt to descend the saddle. The most difficult parts were the crossings on the Willis Lakes trail as the logs are slick and weird. We checked the forest service website to make sure the trail was accessible and it showed on their map that it was but that the branch off of to the Interlaken trail headed into closed territory FYI. If you are the skier we met up top, let me know as I have great pics of you! 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/12/2024, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: From Willis Gulch TH. Peak Chaser and I Started Friday at 6pm and hiked three miles and 1,700' gain to find a great campsite. Probably the furthest you'd want to go if camping. Climbed the slope Saturday on great snow. Last 100' or so to the summit on dry rock. Glisaded 1,100' back down. Crampons No snowshoes Virtually dry on the approach Crossed 6 streams without issue Your shoes will get wet with some of the trail being a small creek currently 

Route: From Willis Gulch
Posted On: 12/30/2023, By: Will_E
Info: Nice day on Rinker, after reaching treeline anyway. I went straight up the ridge after branching off the Willis gulch trail, very steep through treeline, it was really slow and messy. From treeline on I didn't need any traction, the ridgeline up and down Twin Peaks was a lot of fun. Nice day, not much wind out. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/8/2023, By: eskermo
Info: Standard route up Rinker is still dry until the last few hundred vertical feet once you gain the ridge. Maybe 50 steps total on snow, no traction needed. Traverse to both Twin Pks dry, and descent from saddle between the two Twin Pks was dry and manageable. I had company on the two unranked 13ers, what a treat! Leaves are a bit past peak but still some color hanging on. Just under 12 miles, 4850' roundtrip for the three peaks. 7 hours 48 minutes 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: blazintoes
Info: What a lovely peak with a lovely hike on a lovely summer day. The wildflowers are in abundance. Chasing bicentennials is a blast. Everything is dry and wonderfully easy. This peak was made to listen to a podcast or audio book. There is a steep 2000 climb straight up the ridge to the summit. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: Chicago Transplant
Info: Trail is almost completely dry, a couple small patches of avy debris remain but aren't an issue. Dry to the ridge, then a few small sections of snow on the ridge. 

Route: Twin Peaks B Saddle Descent after Rinker Peak
Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: Chipmunk
Info: Nearly summer conditions. There is snow on the slope leading up to the Rinker-Twin Peaks saddle, but it is avoidable by climbing on dry tundra next to it. A large cornice guards the top of the south slopes route. I chose to go climber's right to avoid it. The saddle is snow covered and this is the only unavoidable snow on the route. I used spikes for this part, though they were not strictly necessary. Already at 9am soft snow was balling on the bottom of them. Scouted the Twin Peaks saddle from below and while it was still holding some snow, it looked avoidable. I chose to descend this way and I'm not sure where the soft grass mentioned in the route description is but I never found it (maybe it was under the snow?). Thus, it was pretty terrible. North facing routes on surrounding peaks still holding a lot of snow. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/14/2022, By: colin j
Info: Dry through Willis Gulch all the way to Twin-Rinker saddle. Intermittent 2-3 inches of hard packed snow along ridge, mostly avoidable. Spikes and gaiters are currently optional. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2022, By: Tim A
Info: Cornice continues blocking the top of the south slope. Talked to a hiker descending today who went climber's left (West) and described a sketchy 10' ascent through the cornice at its narrowest point, where a fall would be potentially unstoppable down a gully. He recommended I steer climber's right (East) which I did and thereby avoided the snow entirely. No snow of any consequence on the ridge to Rinker or to the Twin Peaks to the East. The south slope is quite eroded and made for an unpleasant descent. Bypass down the saddle between the Twins looked to still hold some snow and was even steeper than the SR and also looked very eroded so I opted to retrace my steps back over UN13,333. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2022, By: JosephG
Info: South slopes route essentially snow free, except for a small cornice before gaining the Rinker/Twins saddle. 

Route: NE Ridge via the Twin Peaks
Posted On: 6/5/2022, By: daway8
Info: Did this Bicentennial by coming up the NE Ridge over the 2 unranked 13ers, Twin Peaks B NorthEast and Twin Peaks B then down the standard South Slopes route. Started from Willis Gulch trailhead but left the trail at 0.86mi at about 9,730ft to follow a small drainage up to the ridge. First small patches of snow seen at 11,200ft but overall 90% of the snow seen along the route was easily avoidable. For the few small patches that were too much trouble to bypass, no flotation or traction was needed. Route above treeline had more scrambling than expected but still basically class 2 or maybe 2+ depending on the line you pick (could milk it for a small amount of class 3 if desired). Descent route was dry as was the valley. Some old avy debris occasionally made the trail hard to find but wasn't too bad overall. Missed a turn but was able to loop back over to the right spot thanks to GAIA. There were lots of willows both going up the ridge and in the valley but thankfully they had only just barely started to bud. Wouldn't want to do this route when they're in full bloom. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 12/4/2021, By: dwoodward13
Info: 1-2 inches of snow below treeline. Above treeline in the willow patches you can find some deeper snow. 99% dry the rest of the way. Brought spikes, but never used them. Could have worn trailrunners. Feels more like September than December. Likely will be obsolete after Tuesday. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 11/14/2021, By: osprey
Info: The only significant trail information I would like to add is there is a section of trail completely covered by tree down fall. It is not a long section but it took a while on the ascent to determine a path. It was easier to solve the maze on the descent. After summiting via the route described on the forum, I descended the Rinker-Twin Peaks ridge to it's low point and then turned south into Willis Gulch. This worked out very well rather than descending the ascent route.