Father Dyer Peak

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/12/2020, By: Ev_p303
Info: Road is mostly clear all the way to the lower lake. Past the lake there was a decent amount of snow but its melting fast. The east ridge itself was mostly clear of snow but I had to stay on the top of the ridge which made it a more solid class 3 climb. The summit ridge still had a good amount of snow but I never even put on my spikes. 

Route: Combo Helen/Father Dyer/Crystal
Posted On: 9/6/2020, By: daway8
Info: Did Helen-Father Dyer-Crystal combo with Peaks 10 & 9 thrown in. Absolutely loved the Helen - Father Dyer ridgeline. I considered it more fun than the Sawtooth or Kelso or Quandary West Ridge because there were just so many neat scramble opportunities - plenty of class3+ with some isolated class 4/5 moves here and there which you could go for or easily bypass if preferred. Great ridge for low risk way to build scrambling skills since pretty much all the difficult terrain can be avoided if you're not feeling up for it but lots of fun moves with generally very little exposure for those who choose to stick to the top of the ridge. Route up Helen very easy but seems to go on forever as seen in the pictures I took towards the end of the day's loop. Image 1 is the traverse from a distance (fun stuff near hump in center). Image 2 is the long, long trek up Helen. Didn't notice any smoke except some haze on the distant horizon. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 8/15/2020, By: MTBen
Info: Very fun ridge, not too exposed. Very smokey today 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 8/9/2020, By: tcphoto87
Info: Couldn't have asked for a better day aside from the early AM haze. Assuming there's a wildfire nearby, but by noon or so it had mostly all cleared up. Completely dry, super easy class 3 ridge and most if not all of the class 3 bits are pretty easily avoided if you want to. Took me a minute to locate where to start heading up but wasn't too hard to find. There was a bit more exposure on the summit ridge than I thought there would be. I did Father Dyer/Crystal/Peak 10 combo (skipping Helen and adding peak 10) and made for a super fun day. Total it was 10.75 miles and took me under 7.5 hours including all the stops on each summit and relaxing by the lake for awhile. According to my tracker on my watch the summit of Father Dyer from the parking lot/trailhead was 3.7 miles in about 2 hours 20 minutes. 

Route: Combo Helen/Father Dyer/Crystal
Posted On: 7/7/2020, By: NittanyLion14er
Info: All clear minus 2 small snow fields on Pk 10 from summit down to tower service road, soft enough no traction needed. Glissade possible to Crystal Lake Trail from ridge, recommend poles or axe to regulate speed; fast snow around 11am. 

Route: West Ridge from Crystal Peak
Posted On: 6/13/2020, By: moltar
Info: Totally clear 

Route: Bushwhacked up South Face
Posted On: 6/13/2020, By: moltar
Info: Totally Clear. Took the Ridge to Crystal Peak A and was clear, too. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/5/2020, By: rhammond530
Info: East ridge is in. No snow of consequence on the ridge to Crystal. Willows in the lower basin are a posthole-y mess. There is a log bridge across the creek just to the right (north) of where it flows over the 4WD road. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 1/6/2020, By: KatintheHat
Info: Parked at the 2wd trail head and road up was well packed by ski traffic. Broke trail up to Father Dyer Ridge, but snow had a nice crust and we only punched through in a few places. Ridge is mostly wind scoured with a place or two of unavoidable snow. Snowshoes up to the ridge and felt comfortable in microspikes for the ridge. Truly a fun entry level class 3 winter outing! 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 11/18/2019, By: Giant hills
Info: Was able to drive truck to upper 4wd trailhead. No flotation or traction used. Not to much snow on ridge, same with the ridge over to crystal. Went down crystals northeast ridge which had a little more snow coverage, met up with the road that runs along lower slopes of crystal. Used axe crossing one slope on the road as it was hard packed and a fall wouldve been a long ride. 

Route: Combo Helen/Father Dyer/Crystal
Posted On: 9/21/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: From the summit of Mount Helen there's a long Class 2 section to the saddle. From here things get interesting and the route finding and Class 3 scrambling begins. I found both to be easier than I expected. Most of the route is on the south side of the ridge (the Quandary side). A couple of times you'll have to down climb steep, narrow chimneys. The feet can sometimes be poor - just dirt and broken rock - but the hands are usually good and the rock is solid. Nonetheless, test every hold. About halfway through the traverse to Father Dyer you'll have to lose a bit of elevation gain and traverse on some ledges on the south side of the ridge, then climb up through steep, broad gullies back to the ridge crest. This section is easier than it might look from the bottom, just be sure of your feet. You'll know when you're close to the summit as you'll have attained the ridge crest just prior, since most of the traverse is done below the ridge crest. From Father Dyer to Crystal is just a Class 2 scamper, nothing too serious. The rock is a little loose and you could probably find yourself in exposed terrain, but it's almost entirely avoidable. 

Route: Combo Helen/Father Dyer/Crystal
Posted On: 7/29/2019, By: vidoona
Info: We did the Class 2/3 loop (Helen=>Dyer=>Crystal=>Peak 10). The 4x4 road up to lower Crystal Lake is open and snow can be avoided for the entire route. 

Route: Combo Helen /Father Dyer/Crystal/Peak 10
Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: penadam
Info: Climbed Helen, Father Dyer, Crystal and Peak 10 starting from the intersection of the crystal lake jeep trail and the wheeler trail. Scramble from Helen to Father Dyer was in excellent shape. No snow anywhere along the route, though we did encounter some 'greasy' rocks along the way. Rock was generally good with a few crumbling sections but nothing of consequence. Panorama is looking from Father Dyer back towards Helen. East ridge of Father Dyer visible on the left side. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/6/2019, By: frankd720
Info: Creek crossing on the wheeler trail right before reaching the crystal creek road is raging and difficult to cross at this time. Recommend using the road all the way up if you're going any time soon. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2019, By: mapletuesday
Info: No snow until about 11500 at first creek crossing. Snowbridges are sketchy due to minimal/no recent freeze, but we found a place to cross. If you're worried, keep hiking towards the lake and you will be able to cross eventually. Intermittent snow fields at 12400 which were soft as early as 6:30 am. No snow on ridge. Could still ski the Helen/Father Dyer or Father Dyer/Crystal bowls at this point, but may be crap snow. Helen and the Father Dyer to Crystal ridge are free of snow.