Deception Pass, Cathedral Rock — Friday, Jul. 29, 2011

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

During this wonderful loop hike of 14.5 miles, you encounter beautiful vistas, lakes, and the Pacific Crest Trail. However, July 29th start date was probably a little early in the season due to the fact that the trail requires you to ford Daniel Creek and cross a snow bridge. In addition, since I was hiking with my two teenage sons (which are experienced backpackers) along with my 8 year old son (who was on his 2nd overnight backpacking experience), this was quite a challenging 3 day/2 night hike. We also enjoyed some solitude on the trail since we did not encounter anyone during the entire middle section of our hike (probably due to the creek crossings). To get to Deception Pass trailhead you will need to travel on an unpaved road for 12.5 miles which takes approx. an hour if you don't have a 4WD vehicle. We started our hike at the Deception Pass trailhead late Friday. The meadow surrounding the parking lot was full with wildflowers. We hiked 2.5 easy, forested miles to Hyas Lake which is a beautiful green/blue lake (see picture). Sites are in close proximity to the trail so are not very private, but at least the sites are spread out along the edge of the lake so we did not hear any noise from other backpackers. Next day we hiked 9.5 miles from Hyas Lake to Squaw Lake. Due to the trail conditions, this was a challenging day. After leaving Hyas Lake you hit a series of switchbacks and make your way up to Deception Pass. Just past the junction to Tuck and Robin Lakes, you start to encounter your first snow. However, the trail is easy to follow. You then shortly ascend to Deception Pass where you meet up with the Pacific Crest Trail. This portion of the Pacific Crest Trail was the most beautiful and challenging section of our hike. You encounter at least 3 major creek crossings. The first creek crossing is not bad but you will need to get your boots wet. However, the weather was nice and our boots dried out quickly. The next crossing (Daniel Creek) was the most challenging as I went thigh deep (I am 6'4") in a swift current of water. My sons and I locked arms and forded the creek...what an adventure! I would have loved to have a video of our crossing. The last major "creek crossing" was actually an ice bridge that we were able to safely navigate over. Once you are able to cross these hazards, you start your ascent toward Cathedral Rock and climb to a ridge that opens up to gorgeous views of Mount Daniel and Cathedral Rocks. After crossing the ridge about a mile or so before the Deep Lake junction, the trail traverses through patches of snow and is approximately 60% snow covered. However, we had a GPS so we did not have too much problem following the trail. Once you reach 5600 feet elevation, and reach the Deep Lake junction, you begin your descent so snow on the trail is no longer an issue, but we did encounter some muddy sections of the trail. We did not reach Squaw Lake until around 7pm and found the camp sites pretty full. However, we found a somewhat private site nestled between the trail and the lake with a nice water source, flat area, and fire pit. The bugs were a little bit of a problem, but the campfire helped keep them away as we ate our meal. We awoke early and made the easy, downhill 2.5 miles back to the Cathedral trailhead. This was the more popular route as we met up with many other hikers heading to Mount Daniel. There were several fallen trees over the trail in this section, none that big of a problem. Overall, I would definitely do this trip again (probably not with a young child), but a little later in the season.