Cathedral Rock — Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

The recent edition of the North Cascades hike book says the trail to Squaw Lake is appropriate for kids but they would have to be hardy hikers, not beginners or wee ones. It's not a tough hike, but has some steep sections and is rocky on the way down. Once past the lake the trail has been much improved for drainage and tread since I last hiked it in the early '00s. There is still a little mud, but nothing to worry about and no snow anywhere. The main flowers were lupine, beautiful as they juxtaposed the barren face of Cathedral Rock. At the vertigo-inducing junction for Peggy's Pond, we chose to go higher and that's when you find out if you are meant to be a climber or not. We chose not and turned back after 10 minutes, satisfied with the views of Mts Hinman and Daniel and down to Deep Lake. There are bugs all along the way, but that's to be expected this time of year and the berries are not quite ripe, but soon they will be at lower elevations. A multitude of flowers are in the meadow at the trailhead.