My cousins and I set out from the parking lot at about 9:00 a.m. for an attempt on one or both of Mt. Daniel’s summit peaks. The trail up to the PCT was in pretty good shape, although wet in several places. We skirted around Cathedral Rock, taking in the views of Deep Lake as we traversed the narrow route to Peggy’s Pond. From there we chose the SE ridge trail, which was marked with cairns, but still difficult to follow in some places. My cousins had strayed too far to the south the previous year, and knew it was better to stay on the marked route. There was no snow on the trail until the traverse across the permanent snow field up to the col below East Peak. There, fresh snow covered evidence of a path to the col. Part of the route was in the shade and required some firm boot stomping to make new boot prints in the snow. A couple of places were icy. All three of us had trekking poles, but no ice axes. A lone hiker who came up behind us with neither started to follow our tracks, but wisely gave up and turned around. At the col, a fog blew in completely obliterating our view of the west summit. We opted for the closer East Peak, reaching it shortly after 2:30. There was rime on the northwest face of the peak, and a cold biting wind the whole time we were there, about 30 minutes. The west peak, the true summit, never cleared. We opted to head back down. I chose an alternate route down, dropping through some loose scree to a band of rock which extended about 85% of the way laterally across the necessary traverse. This was far faster than my cousins’ return route across the snow and ice, and safer in my opinion. The snow field was half in the shade and had gotten slippery. Once away from the summit, the wind died down and the temperatures were reasonably pleasant again. We returned through the forested lower portion of the trail as dusk was creeping in, arriving back at the parking lot at 8:00 p.m.

I was looking for a good workout and asked my son to join me for this hike. He had no trouble with it, but I was bushed... Hiked from Tucquala Meadows TH to Cathedral Pass to Deception Pass and back to Tucquala Meadows. Stream fords between CP and DP ok with care. Many buggy areas. Parts of the PCT between CP and DP are in need of brushing out. This hike was very hot but well worth the effort.

We were sweating being even starting this hike on the hottest weekend of the year. However the climb up to Cathedral Pass was in the shade of a beautiful forest and not too bad. Swimming in Squaw Lake at the top was wonderful. Squaw Lake looks like decent camping, although too crowded. The small swampy lakes along the ridge are actually all quite pretty, and weren't unreasonably buggy. The trail to Peggy's Pond is dicey--slippery with long dropoffs. The mosquitoes were swarming at the Pond. Peggy's Pond is actually a rocky lake at the base of Cathedral rock, not at all swampy despite the name. Small fish were jumping. They were apparently too busy with the mayflies and mosquitoes to have any interest in spinners though. Swimming is not too cold and there are some nice places to get in. The main drawback is that there is only one good campsite, which was taken--the others are either dusty, sloped, on fragile meadows, or not private. I also wouldn't recommend the Pond for warm windless weather, like we just had, due to what might be the worst mosquitos in the cascades. The bugs only got worse the higher we climbed above the pond. We turned back on Sunday before climbing very high above the Pond due to what felt like imminent thunderstorms. There was lots of smoke to the east. Alpine blueberries still at least several weeks from being ripe. We found a few ripe ones in the woods.

I've wanted to do this circuit hike for a few years now and finally got the chance to sneak away on Tuesday. It is a long 14+ miles on dirt road from the Salmon La Sac campground. I took the clockwise route starting first up the Cathedral Rock trail. The switchbacks are gentle and the trail is in excellent shape. Once the pass is achieved, the views are stunning through the high meadows with Cathedral Rock towering above. The trail then splits up to Deep Lake or the gradual descent of the PCT. Although the PCT is closed to stock here from the storm of 2006, it really was not in bad shape. There were two descent blowdowns, but easily passable with packs. The river crossings were not as bad as they were made out to be, either. There was no snow, but the bugs were out, preventing me from stopping. That was all well and good since I had 14 miles to go that day! The PCT then slowly and gently ascends to Deception Pass where I veered down again toward Hyas Lake. The FS is working on some foot bridges to help with the muddy conditions there. Made it back to the car in just under 6 hours. Beautiful!

Aug 10, 2008: Deception Pass loop (counter-clockwise) Early 5:15am start from the Hyas Lake trailhead. Up at Deception Pass by 7:15am. Brushy (wet) traverse to Cathedral Pass, with nice views of Hyas Lake(s), flitting in and out of intermittent sunshine. Smooth descent down to the trailhead; lots of people on the trail after Cathedral Rock. Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani/sets/72157606659185718/ Cumulative stats: - Distance: 14mi - Elevation gain: 3,300ft - Hiking time: 6.5hrs Trip notes: - Stream crossings between Deception Pass and Cathedral Pass were 'relatively' simple rock-hops - Saw one guy carting a mountain bike up...??? - Saw one guy hiking up in a cast on one foot...??? - Fine misty rain off and on throughout - Brush was extremely wet, full rain gear throughout