Located on the northeast side of the Middle Sister, the Hayden Glacier starts just below the Prouty Point saddle at an elevation near 9100 feet and flows downhill to the east to about 7800 feet at it’s toe. Meltwater from the Hayden feeds the north fork of Squaw Creek, which eventually flows through the town of Sisters. Like the Renfrew on the west side of Middle Sister, the views from the Hayden Glacier are spectacular. The below photo, courtesy of John Scurlock, was taken on August 28th, 2007, and is looking at the glacier from the northeast.
If looking to make turns on the glacier, be advised it does have numerous crevasses. Generally however, a safe ascent route can be found by following a pronounced ridge on the northern side of the glacier as seen in the photo above. Good turns can often be found here into the mid-summer, and even year-round for those that don’t mind a ski in sub-optimal snow conditions.
The best snow is usually found during the corn snow months of May and June however, when Pole Creek trailhead becomes accessible to vehicles and a descent of the north ridge of the Middle Sister can be combined with the Hayden for nearly 3500 feet of turns.
If you haven’t been there before and are looking for a new area in the Central Oregon cascades to visit, the Hayden is definitely worth a trip.
