This morning I figured I'd take advantage of our great recent weather and the paucity of snow below 4,000 ft west of the cascades and Hike to Cathedral Rock or even Peggy's Pond to scout the trail prior to a Mt Daniel climb in May/June. Well, as you can see from the pictures, I really underestimated the nice weather this week--the road is perfect clear and dry all the way to the end of the pavement, but beyond that (and for presumably about 13 miles) closed with at least a foot of snow. IIRC the sign said no wheeled vehicles, snow mobiles only. The checkbox "trail warnings" above are filled in only because I could not publish this without them. I have no idea what the trail is like--I could get no closer than 13 miles. WTA folks, you should have a default that if the "road closed" box is checked, you can pub a report without any other boxes.... (So I climbed Granite Mountain on the way home as a consolation prize. Life could be worse.)

Squaw Lake, Peggy’s pond, Circle Lake, Venus Lake, Spade Lake, Waptus Lake, Deer Lake, Vicente Lake and Deep Lake. It rains, it snows, it is windy and freezing cold again, which could mean only one thing – after the long and hot summer backpacking season is back! This is one long (~30 miles) loop around the south side of Mount Daniel, highest crest peak in Alpine Lakes wilderness. Late July I walked another little 23 miles hike on the north slope of Daniel - https://www.facebook.com/kozhekin.nikita/posts/10152917539315741 Hyas Lake, Marmot Lake, Noname Lake, Jade Lake and liked them a lot. Just like Jade Lake, high alpine lakes on the south side of Daniel are filled with water from glacial melt, which gives them amazing blue color. There is also no trail for 5-6 miles of high alpine terrain to Circle and Venus lakes, which makes them a bit challenging to reach, but also one of the wildest and unspoiled jewels of the mountain. Saturday morning me and the dog Cookie started around 10 am from the pothole ridden Cathedral pass trailhead. A few uneventful switchbacks up (despite the sign “wasp nest near second switchback, 8 stings per person”), we reached peaceful little Squaw lake, continued up to the Cathedral pass. Despite the clouds, we could see shiny blue of Deep Lake down below us. Instead of continuing down with PCT to the deep lake, we turned right on the Peggy’s pond trail. This little trail is already not for the faint of heart. It is deteriorating a lot and basically does not exist anymore in places, where one has to carefully walk the edge of Cathedral rock. Once we reached Peggy’s pond and a U-shape tarn official trail stops and cross-country travel begin. Because of the clouds we could not see much around us, so me and Cookie just started bushwhacking straight up the slope. It was pretty tough going and very steep and rocky in places, but we continued on grabbing to branches and roots. Luckily we didn’t get cliffed out and once reached 6200 feet found the nice straight boot path traversing the ridge to Circle lake. I assume it should be possible to find a better boot path up to it too, instead of going through the bushes like we did. Now terrain is open and basically deserty. There is almost no vegetation, just rocks left by the recently retreated glaciers. Circle lake is blue and pretty, but not actually circle. This part of the trip was easy. After circle lake things get tough again. It was very cloudy, below freezing and very-very windy. There is no boot path anymore, you basically have to walk the ridge between two lakes on scree. This scree is very nasty, wet from recent snow, very slippery, very loose and very-very steep. I hate going down straight on rock fall, but I hate traversing on the unstable scree even more. I was really freaking out in places, but Cookie did great and we managed to get up and down the lake, including going through a few feet of vertical chimney, where Cookie had to be lowered on the rope. Finally, we got to lake Venus. And from Venus is straight down on glacier polished granite along the waterfall to a much more lovely and green Spade lake. Usually people stay at Venus or Circle Lake overnight, but it was still early and cold, and we had nothing to do, so we went down to Spade lake and then took official trail all the way down. Despite official status, Spade lake trail doesn’t seem to be maintained at all and is basically covered with tons and tons of blowdowns. It intersects with PCT at lower elevation, but instead of going to PCT we went even lower, to the low-low 3000 feet (even lower than the trailhead) huge Waptus lake and camped for the night at 7pm. I’m glad we did camp so low. It was raining and snowing heavily all night and Cookie curled into the smallest furry ball I’ve ever seen trying to keep warm. Also Waptus lake is pretty. Next and very wet day we walked along the shore of Waptus lake to Spinola creek train, until it joined PCT again. PCT is very gradually going up, until it reaches Vicente Lake trail turnoff. Unfortunately by that point my GPS batteries died and I had no backup. Deer lakes looked nice and swampy and Vicente Lake trail was easy to follow until almost the very end. There some rock fall destroyed parts of the trail and with very bad visibility it was easy to get lost. We persevered through trial and error and finally got to the rock scramble across the creek to the lake. It was very steep, snowy and wet. A little hard with the dog, but we managed, both up and down. From Vicente lake down again to PCT, and then to Deep lake. It is funny but we could see less of the Deep lake from the shore, than what we have seen of it from above the pass just the day before. Clouds now formed really thick and wet soup all around us. We went back to PCT, up the pass again and back to Cathedral pass trail. Back to the car at around 4pm. https://connect.garmin.com/activity/891599271 https://connect.garmin.com/activity/891599273

I led a Cascadian backpack to Peggy's Pond Fri - Sun. We car-camped Thurs night at Tucquala Lake. The trail to Cathedral Pass was much steeper than I remembered. I guess over 25 years makes a difference to both the body & the memory. The trail over to Peggy's Pond also had a stretch of about 100 yards that was much narrower than I remembered & could be scary to some(the minor obstacle). Also, just after the trail passes below the cliffs of Cathedral Rock there is a new trail that goes straight up the hill. As the old trail seemed to be blocked off with rocks, we took this trail. It climbs directly up to Peggy's Pond, but was so steep that this old man's legs were done in by the time he reached the top. We arrived about 3:00 and after setting up camp Brenda & Jonah headed off to Circle Lake, which took about 2 hrs round trip, while Suzette & Ethan had a nice swim. On Sat Brenda, Jonah, & Julie set off to climb Mt Daniel via the southeast ridge. A little while later Ethan, Karen, & Suzette set off for Pt 7020 on the southeast ridge. I was so wiped out from the climb in and 3 nights of not enough sleep that I just puttered around camp all day. Most of the party also explored the rocky basin left by the retreating Hyas Creek Glacier on Fri evening or Sat afternoon. On Sun we headed out about 10 & took the old trail. It is much gentler and we removed the rock barrier. After a leisurely lunch at Squaw Lake, and were out to the cars by 2:15. There were quite a few people in the area, but they were so spread out that we never felt crowded. This area is known for its mosquitoes, but it we didn't have any, probably because it is so dry. Except for some clouds on Sat afternoon, the weather was sunny & warm with a nice breeze at times. There were not many wildflowers except for some gentians, but much to everyone's surprise, all the meadows around Cathedral Pass & Peggy's Pond had some brilliant fall color. Everyone had a great time.

I was looking for a suitable 2-night backpacking loop in the dry side of the mountains and ended up creating this off and on trail loop. We used CalTopo maps for route planning, and our original 3-day, 2-night itinerary was as follows: 1. Cathedral Pass Trail (TH at Tucquala Meadows, same parking area for Tuck and Robin Lakes) to PCT junction to Peggy's Pond 2. Peggy's Pond to Circle Lake (off trail) 3. Circle Lake to Venus Lake (off trail) 4. Venus Lake to Spade Lake (off trail) 5. Spade to PCT near Waptus to Lake Vicente 6. Lake Vicente to PCT to Cathedral Pass and out. Essentials: Topo Maps, Pre-planned route, Compass, Altimeter and preferably an Emergency Communication Device such as Spot. Last-minute circumstances commanded a late start (12:30pm at the TH) and our actual trip looked like this: DAY 1 Our trip started at Cathedral Pass trail which quickly climbs up in a series of switchbacks and passes a quaint Squaw Lake in 2.5 miles. Nice area to camp, especially if you are with the kids. The trail flattens up on the ridge, and goes through what it seems like acres of huckleberries (or "huckleraisins" as we called them due to this year's dry season). At this point, one can see the majestic Cathedral Rock looming above. At 4.5 miles, the trail meets PCT shortly before Cathedral Pass (elev.5620). We took a left at this junction (towards Deep Lake). The PCT goes over the pass and soon the view opens up and one can see the blue waters of Deep Lake down below, and craggy peaks surrounding the lake with waterfalls falling down into its basin. Our goal, Circle lake, sitting below the ridgeline of Mt. Daniel is right above one of the those waterfalls. As you circle around the base of Cathedral Rock and right before the first switchback that takes you down to Deep on PCT, there is a marked trail junction with the primitive climbers' trail (on the right) that leads to Peggy's Pond. The trail is faint but because it's signed it's hard to miss. We took this trail for about 0.9 miles to the U-shaped tarn below the pond, a trail not for the fainthearted. Somewhat eroded at places, the trail sidelines the ridge that steeply drops what it seems like thousands of feet down to the Deep's valley floor. There is not much reprieve from the vertigo until the "trail" drops into a forested area just before Peggy's Pond. Here is where the fun cross-country rambling starts. Approaching the U-shaped tarn, we crossed a creek and followed one of the boot paths which we believed would take above the tree line on the SE ridge of Mt. Daniel and up to Circle. In the hindsight, we should have climbed up the ridge immediately and gained the elevation of at least 6,000 feet due to massive gullies that slice up the ridge at lower elevations. Instead, we took the boot path to its logical end (I believe it was right before the first big gully), and then climbed straight up going through at least one chimney-like rock formation (Not sure how to rate those moves but they seemed to be pretty safe.) The annoying part here were those little pebble-like gravel rocks, not really scree, but small yellow rocks mixed up with dirt and other brittle pieces. We tried to find as much vegetation/solid rock to travel on, as these can send you sliding down the steep slope (not ideal). On open slope, we finally found our huckleberry heaven, with small little pungent bushes providing with one of the richest harvests I've ever seen (consuming which, naturally, considerably slowed our progress). Finally, we came up into a flatter area at slightly above 6,000 (above the tree line), and found a very very faint path paralleling the ridge and leading us to what proved to be Circle's outlet. Traversing the ridge, for the most part, the path was somewhat easy to follow in the absence of any cairns. Amazing bird's eye views! We soon dropped down to Circle Lake, elev.6014, which knocked our socks off. It was undeniably beautiful, rugged alpine lake looking like a smaller version of Crater Lake from the trail's perspective. The word "blue" gained an entirely new meaning. It was late afternoon and we called it a night, thus not achieving our planned itinerary. But how beautiful a night that was! One more party of two at the lake to call our neighbors, that's it. There are few nice campsites at West side of the lake's outlet, but we chose a more secluded, less windy camp, which we thought was a premium. DAY 2 We started our climb up to Citadel pass (elev. 6650) following the west ridge bowl above Circle. There is an obvious line in Circle's bowl to the pass offering little to no exposure. We refilled our bottles straight from the stream emerging from the snow/ice melt (never treated that water, utterly delicious). We came up to an opening between the cliffs and onto a pass, but that was not the actual Citadel pass as our altimeter read about 400 feet higher. From that point, we could see Spade but not Venus, which lays to the right. We could definitely spot the outlet and the rock band that lead to down to Venus. About this pass: it turned out that Citadel pass was further up North following the ridgeline, and it was actually right below the ridge leading to one of Daniel's summits dominating the view to the North. We followed the knife-like ridge line for a little bit, bypassing the steepest part down, and then dropped down the scree side which still seemed very steep, but manageable. That was perhaps one of the most difficult parts of this climb (are we really going to do this?), but we followed some goat trails down providing some traction, and boot skied the rest. A party doing similar route in front of us provided with much needed confidence and motivation. Now we reached a flatter area and a polished gray-looking rock band leading down to Venus's outlet, loaded with multiple unnamed tarns. Lots of these tarns were dry at this point. Some of them not, but muddy and not very attractive. Perhaps earlier in the year would have been a better time for tarn pictures. The views were gorgeous anyway. Going down and around these rocks, we somehow managed to get all the way down to the outlet of Venus. One party travelling before us reported they didn't find a safe passage and thus dropped all the way to Spade. Venus is not to be missed! There is definitely a way, and after a few trials and errors, somehow, we found our own way after down-climbing a short (about 12 foot) wall with great foot/hand holds. Perhaps even a better way exists. From Venus, the route follows the east side of the outlet all the way down to Spade on beautiful, glacier-polished slabs. It's a steep walk, but manageable. We didn't follow the stream all the way to where it joins Spade, veering left, leaving the slabs behind and cutting down through the woods a bit before finding a dry stream bed that eventually led us to the shores of Spade. Following the shore, we quickly found the trail. Swimming in Spade is amazing! From Spade, we took the trail all the way down to the PCT junction and then Waptus Lake (foregoing the PCT), a steep, knee bending affair. At Waptus, my legs felt like someone pushed them through a meat grinder. We camped on the East meadowy shore of Waptus, open with the mountain views. Beautiful forested lake, but definitely populated with campers. Tons of campsites in that area in a lovely, thinned-out forest. DAY 3 Due to not making our planned itinerary, we chose to take the Trail Creek Trail back. The trail marked "to Salmon La Sac" from Waptus first wades the lake's outlet (we took the horse crossing, not the foot bridge), then meets Trail Creek Trail No. 1322 in about a mile after the outlet x-ing, followed by an immediate crossing of a creek (no bridge), and wanders through a pretty forest before gaining elevation and finally topping out on the ridge leading to a junction with the Cathedral Pass trail. From here, a mere 2 miles downhill took us back to Tucquala Meadows TH, where it all started. Amazing scenery, privacy, world-class alpine lakes and views, but you better be in shape for this one, both physically and mentally! Good travels. I'm sharing the CalTopo link to our original route below.

Oh what a day it was! The good, the bad, and the ugly. Ha! The road in to the Cathedral Rock trailhead (Fish Lake Road #4330) is actually not bad for the most part. Once the pavement ends at the top of Salmon la Sac, the trailhead is about 12 miles in on #4330. When you get to Scatter Creek, maybe 8 miles in, the Creek has washed the road out. I made it through with a low clearance car, but it was a dry winter, spring and so far, summer. The Creek is pretty low right now. A high clearance vehicle is recommended. The rest of the road is nice, no potholes to speak of, just some washboard areas in the beginning on the uphills. The trail you to Cathedral Rock (#1345) is fantastic! Most of it is soft "luxury" trail and would be great for trail running. It is switchbacks with a gradual incline. There are a couple rocky spots but really, it's a great trail! Once you reach the junction with the Peggy's Pond trail (#1375) the terrain changes quite a bit. The trail will take you down a couple hundred feet and then back up again to the pond. It was a bit hard to follow, stay high and look for the cairns. It is extremely dusty up toward the pond and admittedly I felt (and looked) like "Pigpen" by the time I got up there. Now onto the beast, Mount Daniel, which was the goal for the day. Wow!! Incredible! Initially I planned to climb up the SE ridge, which is the easiest way. The ridge "trail" starts right when you reach the pond basically. Instead I decided to go past the pond and climb up the glacier route. It was beautiful and brutal! Most of the way it was two hand scrambling and glacial traverses. Please do not go this route if you are not experienced and a top notch scrambler! It is very dangerous! Every muscle in my back and arms is sore today from holding onto rocks and boulders and pulling myself up. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. It probably took me close to two hours to climb up that route, and almost as long to climb back down. Regardless of which way you get up there, the views and topography from any of the summits are some of the most spectacular I have ever seen! (Note: if you go up the ridge trail, there doesn't appear to be any snow to speak of right now, so the dangerous snowfield crossings will not apply). Bugs were not an issue at all and I did not use the bug spray that I brought. There aren't many wildflowers along the trail until you get up past Peggy's Pond. After that they are awesome! At the very start of the trail next to the parking lot there are some. I finally got to see some pink Indian Paintbrushes for the first time! Yay! The bad news of the day is that my poor car broke down up there, and is still parked up there along the road today. Suck!!! Thanks to the two guys who initially gave me a jump start in the parking lot. That jump got me 3 or 4 miles down the road, and then I found out the issue was not the battery after I lost all power yet again. Thankfully, some amazing and wonderful people drove by at just the right time and offered to help. They gave me a jump again and I only made it about 100ft before losing power again. They were gracious enough to drive me all the way home to Ellensburg and they are trying to get my car running long enough to get it down to Cle Elum. My faith in humanity restored. Thank you friends. Be safe out there everyone! Then have fun! In that order!