Mount Daniel — Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

This was a heck of a day hike--long in distance and elevation gain, but long on views and rewarding feelings. I arrived at the trailhead at 7:30 AM and set out for Cathedral Rock & Peggy's Pond and felt the already warm air. A lot of water would be downed this day. And the bugs were on me right from the car; mostly mosquitos and the little critters would not leave me alone until about 7000'. After an easy several miles to the pass by Cathedral Rock things got interesting with the boot trail to Peggy's Pond, narrow and steep in places with loose rock, but overall no problem for anyone with scrambling experience. I emerged from forest to find a tarn, mistakenly believing this was the Pond. My scramble book said to stay left of this to find a climber's trail and I initially did, but it seemed to lead nowhere. I pressed on and bushwhacked up a steep meadow, thinking all along that this can't be right. I eventually did find a way to the SE ridge line and connected with the actual trail. So please note: Peggy's Pond is much larger than the tarn; if you come to the latter, retrace your steps and find the Pond, which is more the size of a lake. After gaining quite a bit the ridge flattened and big views of Daniel and other peaks and lakes emerged. An impressive panorama. I decided to continue all the way up the ridge and planned on descending on a big snowfield that was under the east summit. Scrambling was to be had on this route, perhaps more than I bargained for. The upper portion was Class 3 rock and parts were close to Class 4, on a serrated ridge with a bit of exposure. Some of the rock was loose. So I would advise taking the snowfield both up & down. If the snow is wet, crampons & axe are not necessary but I would bring them just in case. At least have a set of poles for the traverse. After all that I made the saddle beneath the summit block and had a fairly easy time scrambling the last few hundred feet to the top. What a great perch--at 7900'--to enjoy a late lunch. Since I was tired I decided against going for the true summit to the west which would have added another hour to an already long trip. And the views from the east summit (less than 100' lower) may have been better since you get to look down on the bowl where a glacier once was. My descent was a lot easier than the difficult path up, for I glissaded a little down the snowfield and later found the easier climber's trail back to the Pond. I ran out of water on the descent but there were cool streams to be found and I reloaded with the aid of purification tabs. What a day! Over 15 miles and eleven and a half hours of hiking and worth every step, never mind about my blisters and all the bugs. About 5100' of total gain. An alpine experience I'll never forget.