Mount Daniel — Thursday, Jun. 19, 2025

The road up was in good condition and was able to cross the creek in a Subaru without any issues (water depth at 5pm was less than a foot). We camped at the a dispersed campsite about 0.7mi south of the Cathedral Pass trailhead. 
Departed the trailhead at 3:30am and made it to Peggy's Pond by 6am. The snow started at Nosh Nosh Wahtum but the trail was snow free around Cathedral rock.
Although most of Peggy's Pond is iced over there were plenty of spots to get water including about 0.5mi from the creek up the basin. The snow was firm and we opted for crampons climbing about 0.75mi up the basin before heading up the ridge to catch the main climbers trail. 
The ridge had snow in parts and some scrambling on rock. About the 7100ft level there was a nice boot track across the snow field, we departed the trail, roped up (due to cliff and rock exposure below the track), and climbed to Cathedral Pass. At 9:45am the snow was already slushie in spots and we were drenched in sweat.
Traversed over intermittent rock, scree, and snow for the next mile to just below the summit block. There is a cornice to the North of the boot track heading up the summit and some of the tracks were too close for my comfort.
Summited at 10:40am and headed back down by 11:15am. By then it was heating up more and we were glad to have the alpine start.
Stopped for water at Peggy's pond and just below the pond, heading down on the trail around Cathedral rock took a decent fall on dirt with my pack taking the brunt. I think my ice axe must have popped off the pack as I later noticed it missing. If anyone finds a backup Cassin ice tool (silver shaft) and decides to reach out (ali@cairnme.com), I'll cover postage (or pick up from Seattle area) and gift a year of Cairn premium + beer. 
Made it back to the car at 4:30pm. You can check out our track on the Cairn app.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.cairnme.com/