An amazing summer trip to the Central Cascades. The road out to Tucquala Meadows Trailhead was bumpy and rough but a number of low clearance passenger cars made the trip. Highly encourage scaling up the mountains to the Southeast of Jade lake and taking in the views from the top where you can see Glacier Mt, Baker and quite possibly Rainier to the south tucked to the side of Mount Daniel.

I am so happy to have finally made it up Mt. Daniel this year, 3 weeks post head trauma! I wasn't sure it was going to happen. It was definitely more challenging than before I crashed my head, but worth every moment. Basics first: The road, Fish Lake Road (#4330), is actually in pretty decent condition right now. It's your basic well-used forest road with potholes, washboard areas, rocks, ruts and some spots where I don't know what the heck happened, but it would have seemed like a piece of cake if it wasn't 12 miles to the trailhead. It just takes awhile. I do recommend a high clearance vehicle, however Scatter Creek is completely dry right now so I think any vehicle could make it if you take your time. Flowers are blooming in the meadow at the beginning of the trail but getting toward their end, but still stunning in the higher elevations of Mt. Daniel. There were several types of berries along the trail before you get to Squaw Lake. Bugs were not an issue at all until the true summit of Daniel, where the giant flies were obnoxious. I did notice a few mosquitoes here and there on the way down around Peggy's Pond, as it was getting cooler outside. Nothing major at all though. The only snow to deal with is if you plan to head up Mt. Daniel via a glacier route. Aside from that, the trail to Peggy's Pond and up the Southeast ridge of Daniel is snow free. The trail up to Cathedral Rock was in great shape. Lots of switchbacks before the meadows, but I don't remember there being any blowdowns blocking the trail (thank you Forest Service!). Once you pass Cathedral Rock and head on to Peggy's Pond, that section of trail becomes pretty sketchy and exposed for a short distance. It has been that way forever, but if you are new to the trail you may not expect it. You will feel like you are walking on a ledge and the trail can be difficult to see, but keep headed around Cathedral Rock and away from Deep Lake and take your time. You will be fine. Once you reach Peggy's Pond you can take the scramblers route up the southeast ridge of Mt. Daniel by just following the bootpath(s) that continue taking you higher and higher. This is the most frequently traveled route, especially if you have no experience on glaciers and are just out for more of a simple hike/mild scramble. I kept heading north past the southeast ridge area and headed up the Hyas Glacier route, my favorite!! It is definitely more of a challenge and you do need proper gear and knowledge. Basically, once you get to the back side of the SE ridge, you head west and just start climbing up the enormous boulder fields. You will see the waterfall that is the glacier melt, keep climbing just to the left of the waterfall. There is a slight boot path in places and some cairns here and there. Once you reach the edge of the glacier, you can pretty much choose your route. Your goal is to gain the ridge up to the left. The glacier was pretty compact so I did not feel the need to put crampons on, although it would have made it faster and a bit easier. I used my ice axe in case of the need to self arrest because it was slippery in places. I ended up going from snow to rocks and then snow to rocks again, etc, instead of going up the glacier the entire way. I enjoy a killer scramble, but the choice is yours really. After you gain the ridge, pat yourself on the back and shout "hooray!" And then get moving again because you're not done. Turn right and continue up the ridge. You can see the highest point, where the USGS benchmark is, because it's obvious, but getting there takes some time and effort. Just follow the ridge and the bootpath. When you get to the point where you can see Spade and Venus Lakes, there will be some black colored spires that appear maybe impossible to get beyond to reach the true summit. At that point you will need to lose a little elevation and then gain it back again. The boot path is there, just faint. After you pass that section, continue with the path on the ridge but stay high. There is another boot path that goes around lower that is a real pain in the butt. The higher one will require a couple higher class scramble moves, but still much easier. Soon you will see the true summit and once you get up there, heaven on earth!! You can see Baker, Glacier and all of the North Cascades, Rainier and Adams, Stuart and the Teanaway...basically everything. And the Lynch Glacier is quite the massive site to see to the Northwest! It is just an amazing summit. I ended up following the Southeast ridge all the way back down to Peggy's Pond instead of taking the glacier route back down, so it was a loop. It ended up being 16-17 miles and around 5,000 vertical feet of elevation gain round trip. A long day, but worth every second.

This hike is GORGEOUS! One of my favorites. However, it is not for everyone. As you get closer to Peggy's Pond, the trail becomes pretty steep and narrow and involves a little bit of scrambling. Wear good shoes and bring poles! It is do-able - just be careful. We camped at Peggy's Pond and watched the meteor showers. Though they're over, you still get a beautiful view of the starry sky once it's dark! Road in is about 10 miles of bumpy terrain - not recommended for low clearance cars.

WOW!!! We did several days on this journey and it kept getting better. We started toward cathedral rock/deception pass and camped before the junction to Marmot Lake. second day, we day hiked to Marmot lake. Third day we hiked to tuck/robin lakes and then hiked out, back to the car. Marmot was beautiful but Tuck and Robin lakes was worth all the sweat. It was definitely challenging and not pleasant. Tuck was beautiful but keep going! You will follow cairns the whole way as you climb and scramble and then come to the top and look down. Go hike it!!!! Next time, I will skip deception pass/cathedral rock and spend more time at Robin lakes! There is a very scary ford on the cathedral trail! The forest road is a long journey...

There were five of us completing the loop starting on Cathedral Rock Trail, then PCT to Deception Pass and back on Deception Pass Trail. We descended down from Cathedral Rock area to Deep Lake where we camped the first night. Bugs were troublesome but tolerable. The trails to Cathedral Rock and Deep Lake are in good condition and have been completely logged out, however the PCT from the Cle Elum River crossing (Difficult Ford noted by PCTA) to Deception Pass has not been logged out. There were no fewer than 9 trees across the trail north of the crossing. It made us really appreciate the work done in clearing the other trails including the Deception Pass Trail. I was worried about the conditions at the Cle Elum River crossing, but we met someone going the opposite direction that had crossed it successfully without removing his shoes. He gave us some pointers, which we used successfully as well. The river splits into two main channels at the crossing. The first channel approaching from the south has a pair of logs bridging it, which make crossing easy if terrifying due to the volume of water. Don't attempt to use trekking poles in water for support, at least upstream, cause you won't find any. We then went to the right and navigated several small streams to get to other main channel. If you aim for a rock crossing about 50 feet beyond the main trail near where people have been cutting up the bank, you will a relatively easy crossing assuming the rocks are still intact and piled high enough. Only one of our party lost their balance and got their feet wet here. We elected the stay the second night at campground near Robin Lake Trail junction. There is adequate water available from the adjacent stream so no need to haul water. A couple of us ventured up Robin Lake Trail as far as Tuck Lake, but the trail is steep, not maintained and has poor footing. We were happy with our decision to visit Tuck Lake as a side trip and lighten our packs before going up. The loop was 22 miles not including Tuck Lake, but that is only 2 extra miles. It was a very enjoyable hike - I highly recommend it!