Great day on Daniel! We got a late start from the trailhead at 10am, back at 6:45pm.
The road is in decent condition, the last few miles have a number of potholes but nothing too deep. I'm sure pretty much any car could make it up, you might just have to take it quite slow. There are maybe 3 large puddles at the very end that can be mostly avoided on the sides. When we arrived at the TH around 9:30a it was packed - we had to park slightly down the road. There are a couple well-maintained bathrooms at the TH.
The first 5ish miles to Cathedral Pass are easy, not too steep, wide trail. Beautiful fall colors! After the pass, the trail gets a bit narrower, rockier, and has a slight drop-off down towards Deep Lake. Nothing tricky/scary, just pay attention. Note that the junction where the old trail to Peggy's Pond and the new one is quite hard to spot - we missed it on our way there and went the lower way on the old trail. Not a big deal, and might have been more direct for going straight up the ridge.
After Peggy's Pond you start gaining elevation more quickly. There are a few trails to choose from, they all go to the same spot and are well-traveled. The only place you could potentially get off track is at the junction to Circle Lake - make sure you stay right. Once on the ridge, the trails join and it's very straightforward to the top. If you lose the trail, look around, it either goes up some rock in front of you or you'll be able to spot a cairn.
The whole ridge had maybe a half-dozen 3rd class moves, nothing too loose or exposed and many of them you could avoid by going around right or left. The final summit block of main summit looks steep and imposing but is no more than 3rd class, if that. The spookiest part of the day, in my opinion, was traversing on some steep dirt below the East Peak.
We brought helmets, poles, and microspikes just in case, and only ended up using the poles (which were very helpful - usually I put them away when scrambling but kept them out the entire time). There was definitely loose rock, but there was only one section I thought about putting my helmet on and there was no one above us so I didn't. I probably wouldn't bring it if I came back but then again, it's light and you never know.
Total trip was 15.9 miles, 5,500 gain, 9 hours.
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