Cathedral Rock #1345,Pacific Crest (Alpine Lakes) #2000,Deception Pass #1376,Hyas Lake #1376

Our group, which I'll call Hikers6, includes three kids and three adults. We've done four backpacks together in previous years, and this was our first three-nighter. We took the loop hike described in Dan Nelson's book, ""Best of the Pacific Crest Trail"". The trail takes you up to the Cathedral Rock ridge, over to Deception Pass, and down to Hyas Lake. The meadows under Cathedral Rock are truly beautiful, and the view over to Mt. Stuart almost surreal. We stayed on the ridge two nights and took a day to see Peggy's Pond. We'd heard and read mixed reports of the trail and weren't sure about taking the kids on it, but the tricky parts were short and we took them slow and gave the kids lots of instructions. Perhaps all those visits to the urban climbing facilities paid off. Peggy's Pond is a little chunk of heaven. The kids enjoyed finding and naming many frogs. Hikers need to take care of this place by using fewer side trails in the fragile meadows.

On day three we headed north to the PCT for Deception Pass. The trail descends fairly quickly and then levels out to mostly a traverse through forest and brushy patches. The first creek crossing provided some excitement and took about a half hour, but we made it over without incident. The temperature dropped noticeably as we passed through the small, old growth forest, and the plump blueberries and huckleberries were a real treat for all of us. After emerging from the forest we discovered what my trail description didn't point out, which is that you have to regain about 500 feet to reach Deception Pass. In the midafternoon heat this took some doing, and the extra time we spent on this leg of the trail set us back. We were aiming to reach Hyas Lake by 3:00 or 4:00 so we'd have time for good swim, but we ended up at the first camp we could find at Little Hyas at 6:00.

On day four we completed our adventure at 'big' Hyas for lunch and a swim. All in all this was a wonderful trip, and it offered up some good 'lessons learned' for all of us. For me the lesson was to read the map more closely. The 7-mile stretch on day three, with the unexpected 500-foot gain, was more than the kids (two of whom are 11 and the other 15) needed. But now they can say they've seen Cathedral Rock from all angles, crossed a fast-moving creek, feasted on wild blueberries, and hiked 16 miles. And what a beautiful 16 miles it was!