Its been 40 (!) years since I was last at Hyas Lake, what fun to be back again! Somewhat cloudy day, but got to see Cathedral Rock, Hinman and Daniel, and some mountains across the river valley. The trail is in generally good condition, but there are several blow downs that would be difficult for stock to maneuver around. Crossing the outlet stream from Squaw lake takes some detective work to figure out the route. No snow on the trail. Note that the sign for the PCT Northbound is BEHIND YOU (on a tree) when climbing uphill towards the Rock. The VERY BEST flower display was....from the pit toilet at the TH! Ha ha. A few comments on the drive to the TH: need to allow 75 minutes from I-90 to the TH. Be careful at this junction: "...to Salmon la Sac. Go right at the Y to stay on the main road (rather than entering the campground)..." DO NOT CROSS THE RIVER! The "Y" in the road is BEFORE the bridge, not after. The signage for the right fork names "Tucquala Lake", but not "Hyas Lake." (I accidentally went left across the river, then took a Right at the "Y" at the campground entrance, and ended up at the Waptus TH--and had to backtrack several miles). Several miles before the parking area at the TH, the road gets very rutted and bumpy, there are several stream crossings that require a AWD vehicle with high clearance. Can't take a standard car on this road!

Beautiful hike through the trees and then in the open. Bugs weren't bad until we got to the top. I ended up going home with 22 new mosquito bites... We hiked up to the base of the rock, next time I think we'll attempt to climb it.

Minor road caution coming in: The road is its usual rough self, but tolerable at 20-25 MPH. There is one very deep lateral trench that I think is unavoidable about one mile from the TH or 12 miles from the end of pavement. My Outback bottomed out (CLANG!) twice and it may have been worse when I went slower on my way out! It looks to be the road's whole width, maybe not. Also, Scatter Creek ford looks intimidating, wider and deeper than I have ever crossed it with its own gravel bar in the middle, but my Outback with its 8" clearance managed just fine as well as a couple non-jacked-up pickups and Chevy Traverse I saw at the TH. My third try this season for Cathedral Rock/Peggy's Pond was successful (the road was snow-blocked back in March and May). The trail is in very good shape despite numerous blowdowns--they're easy to maneuver around. About an hour to Squaw Lake, another 1:05 to the Pass, and another hour to lunch above Peggy's Pond with multiple stops for photos. Some snow patches above about 5,200 ft (before the pass) are pretty easy to cross and (more importantly) find the trail beyond. Snow was very firm for me and not too deep. Clearing the "cliff face" climber's trail to Peggy's Pond was a joy--no snow, simple, and Deep Lake below was the most intense blue-green. Between the little unnamed pond and Peggy's the trail disappeared for me and the myriad human and game trails just got mixed up and I ended up bypassing Peggy's entirely. No big loss because it was mostly frozen and snow-covered and I was headed higher anyway. Went up the S ridge which was all snow (based on some of the areas where rocks projected up through it, it was at least five feet deep). A really pleasant, hot, sunny snow climb for about 90 more minutes to 6,400 ft. Firm, no post-holing despite it being about noon. I was maybe 2-3 hours from the summit but not really prepared and getting tired, plus I figured the snow was only going to get softer and more tiring, so I headed down, content with the day's travels. Very quiet out there--only one car when I arrived at 8, and two different ones when I left. Met one guy and his doggie on trail on the way down. Incredibly beautiful day. One of my all time favorite hikes--just remote enough and hard enough to discourage crowds of casual hikers, but not so bad that I couldn't hack it after two months of inactivity and a bum shoulder. The only downside was the mosquitoes. Ate. Me. Alive. Even when I was moving at a decent clip they hung around for a while, but stopping was intolerable until I put on a long sleeve shirt and gaiters to cover my bare legs. Be prepared.

2 reasons you need an suv of some sort -- the road river as well as a serious set of grooves (just past the river) that a small car will bottom out on. the cathedral trail had down trees, nothing you cant get around. We both were caring 20 lb overnight packs and we didnt have issues. We were planning on overnighting at peggy's, but were turned around around the 4.5 mile mark due to snow and lack of expertise/gear. The trail from squa lake to where the PCT meets has some snow to cross you will be walking on snow that has water flowing underneith it. trail is difficult to follow at times. We did the .2 miles of the PCT but that was where we stopped due to thick snow. Gear and expertise required. So we chilled at an established campsite that overlooked cathedral rock and the opposite valley of mountains, it was beautiful. in my opinion the bugs werent "that bad" but i kept spraying myself hella (gross). I came out of the hike with 2 mosquito bites. My hiker dude thought the bugs were the worst in his life....but i gotta say i've seen bugs hella worse in the alpine lakes wilderness.