Been wanting to check out this trail for a long time. Glad the snow is cleared and vehicles can make it back in there this time of year. This is now one of my favorite trails. It's a great hike when you don't want a really long one and doesn't have excessive elevation gain. It was a warm day, the flowers are blooming as we made our way up to the rock under the PCT. Found a great spot for lunch above the trail gazing at Mt. Daniel, Cathedral Rock and behind us the Stewart range. The views are breathtaking. There are some great overnight spots. We swam in Squaw lake on the way back down. It felt great to get wet on a 90 degree day. The bugs were only annoying for about 500 feet. Around 4'400-4'800. I don't usually wear bug spray but was wishing I had brought some. Itchy bites for a week! We saw a few groups heading down from overnights and day hikes. We were the only folks heading up past Squaw lake, was great to have the entire mountain to ourselves.

This is a note for the road to the Cathedral Rock TH - it is LONG. Like 30 minutes bumping along in a car long. And when you think you should have gotten there, keep on going until you hit the dead-end, and the trailhead is on your left. I have a sedan and I didn't think my car could pass a part of the road because there is a stream that has taken over it. I thought about it for a while, and at the end determined it was worth the risk to go through the water. We hit the pedal to the floor and gunned it through the water, and my car luckily made it but it was EXTREMELY unnerving. Beware, sedan cars!! I HIGHLY encourage driving an SUV or truck to the location. Also - a note about the hike. So. Many. Spiderwebs. We hiked the trail around 7AM to beat the 90 degree heat and I had to flail my arms in front of me the whole time to avoid spiderwebs to the face. Besides those two things, the hike was pretty difficult and also rewarding. The views are good.

The Cathedral Pass trail is in excellent condition, with no snow or blow-downs. For the most part, it’s a nice moderate grade from the trailhead all the way to the pass, and much of the trail is runnable. Peggy’s Pond trail is snow-free but definitely a bit rough, especially the first section. Nothing overly technical, but there was a marked difference between Cathedral Pass trail and the first 1/4 mile of Peggy’s Pond. Peggy’s Pond trail eventually mellows out and deposits you on the shores of the pond. There’s a large network of social trails beyond the pond, with options to continue up Mt Daniel or do additional exploring in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. More pics here: http://evergreenendurance.com/2015/06/22/trip-report-cathedral-pass-and-peggys-pond/

We started our 2 night 3 day loop right near the Tucquala Meadows campground at the end of NF 4330. Road was good besides one spot you need to cross a stream. no problem for trucks, cars use caution. The trail starts with about 2.8 miles of switchbacks, at the top you can go right for Squaw lake and Cathedral rock, went left for Waptus Lake which is about 7 more miles of steady down hill. Waptus is epic. Giant lake with picturesque mountains and plenty of lake side camping spots. Fish are rampant in the lake. In the morning we started our ascent to deep lake. This day was about 5 miles with an 1100 ft gain that goes by VERY fast after the 10 miles to Waptus. Deep lake is very pretty as well with Cathedral rock looming over you. From there we headed back to the car. It starts with a rough climb up switchbacks of about 1100 ft to the base of Cathedral rock but from there its down hill to Squaw lake and the car! Bugs were fine at Waptus, Deep lake was practically unbearable! We went on a Monday but we only saw about 3 groups the whole trip!

23 mile loop trip from Tuquala Meadows trailhead counterclockwise up the Cathedral Rock trail past Deep lake, Waptus Lake, and back on the Trail Creek Trail (named by the Department of Redundancy Department) where we should have seen Boutros Boutros ghali and Yo Yo Ma eating cous cous and mahi mahi.. :) First night we camped at 5500 feet ish at the ridge near Cathedral peak on some beautiful private tarns. Bugs on the ridge were not too bad. Started down the trail to Peggy's Pond but Diana wanted to turn back near the last hard scramble part. Heard from climbers there is snow at lake and lake is mostly frozen over. Deep Lake is snow free and no issues with trail except a bit of snow and mud but no prob. Lake outlet was running deeper than rocks and required fording, as did the river a bit after that (keep your river crossing shoes on). Bugs at Deep Lake and down valley were pretty bad. Small mosquitoes that bite hard and are pretty DEET resistant. Washout on PCT between Waptus and Deep lake required a small scramble. Nothing to worry about but don't be dismayed when the trail disappears down a steep gulley. We hiked the PCT to the Spade Lake cutoff and then turned left down to lake Waptus. Lake Waptus is pretty much lined with brush. We found a nice campsite near a creek just to the left of the intersection with the lake trail. Campsites near outlet are very wide open and horsey. The bridge is out on the hiker trail, which they do not mention on the Waptus lake side of the trail. Go for the horse ford. Then we hung a left and headed up the Trail Creek Trail Creek Trail (ha ha) and had to ford a much wider an deeper crossing. Diana had to take her pants off. About 3 feet deep at the deepest. Creeks are running full in early June on hot days. Blow downs on Trail Creek Trail but not bad to navigate around. About 10 - 15. Mud and water on trail but nothing hard. The Brick happy hour was welcome after the long gravel road ride from the trailhead to the Brick. $4 pints of good micro brew.