The last 12 miles of road leading up to the trailhead are gravel. Extremely bad wash boarded in a few places complete with potholes and an creek crossing. I couldn't tell how deep the crossing was but it seemed like a couple of feet deep to me. I was in my truck so it was no problem for me but anyone in a low clearance vehicle might not do as well.
I started this hike with the intention of just going to Peggy's pond but I made such great time hitting up all the of side treks on the way up it seemed wrong not to continue on and go all the way to the top.
The beginning of the Cathedral pass trail is in great shape beyond being a bit muddy and slick in places. Once you get up to the pass the trail is pretty well dry.
The Spinola Meadows are beautiful and full of wildflowers, it was a great spot to stop and enjoy for little while before continuing on.
All of the trail junctions are very well marked so navigating to Peggy's pond was a breeze. Once you get to the turn off for Peggy's pond from the PCT the trail gets a little sketchy. Definitely passable but with some caution, there are a few steep sections with dry loose rock and a few areas where the trail really narrows and you're kinda hugging the mountain side. Fortunately that's a fairly short section and then the trail levels out again.
Didn't really notice the bugs until a little before getting to Peggy's pond. Once there I felt like I was swarmed even though I had covered myself with repellent. There weren't many people at the pond, only came across 4 other hikers on the way there and maybe a dozen all day. There were plenty of spots to camp by the pond.
While resting and letting my pup have a drink a few friendly hikers stopped by who's just come from Mount Daniel and convinced me to go a little further for the spectacular views. I was sold and continued on.
Unfortunately there are a ton of trails crisscrossing on the way up to the talus field so navigating was a little tough. From there again through the talus fields it was about the same, the trail kept disappearing. There were some cairns but they were far and few between. As I would discover on the way down that was because I was a little off the established trail.
The rest of the trail which runs along a ridge was a little precarious and involved multiple scrambles. The views leading up were spectacular! However the summit was socked in and there wasn't much to see. No regrets though it was amazing trek and I couldn't believe how well my pup did, I swear he must have some mountain goat in him.
Side note, there are snow fields on the way up to Mount Daniel but they're completely avoidable as the trail that runs the ridge is snow free. It did look like there had been foot traffic across the one of the fields which you could take and avoid some of the precarious scrambles along the ridgeline.
Comments