The weather was perfect for myself and my companion to take a little voyage into the woods. We took the clockwise loop around the Hyas Lakes valley, starting at the Fish Lake/Tusquala(sp') Meadows trailhead. The trail climbs quickly up towards Cathedral Rock (which is a truly impressive sight from the south) but the grade is manageable. We managed to get a little bit lost around Cathedral rock, but we headed east across the meadows below the Rock until we hit the trail again. From there, the trail descends down towards the valley. The trail isn't in the greatest of shape here -- it's overgrown and rocky in lots of places. One of the creek crossings had us scratching our heads for several minutes. My brave companion eventually leaped goat-like across the rushing expanse; I chose to crawl across some well-placed logs on my hands and knees. Despite a request, my dignity did not permit me to pose for a picture. The ascent back up to Deception Pass took us longer than we had thought it would, but we made it before dark. We camped at Deception Pass on Saturday night. For newcomers to the area, there are good campsites just west and north of the junction with the Marmot Lake trail. The 10-mile hike from the car to Deception Pass took us about 8 hours (including lunch and head-scratching). The bugs aren't quite gone yet -- I've got a few itchy bumps to prove it -- but they're on the verge of disappearing for the winter. The next morning we woke up late, descended down into the Hyas Lake valley, walked along the lake, had some yummy tuna sandwiches, read for a while, and then continued back to the car. Total hiking time for this 5-mile stretch was about 5 hours, including lots of R&R along the lake. A more detailed report, with photos, will eventually be available at http://www.bigadventures.com/hiking

Fine views from this excellent trail. For the best views of Deep Lake (far below), Daniel, and Stuart, follow the way trail south from Cathedral Pass along the ridgeline for a few minutes. Even Rainier will finally appear. Trail in good shape, with a single deadfall a short way below the pass (just past the PCT junction), with a bypass trail developing around it. Lots of water left in the ""reflecting"" ponds between Squaw Lake and the Pass. Alas, very few berries. May be a few more in a week, but not many more. A few mosquitoes left at both trailhead and Pass.

September rolled around again and it was time for the annual trek. This years goal was to be an off trail exploration of the lakes on the south side of King Counties highest point, Mount Daniels. Starting from the Fish Lake Parking area we would ascend the Cathedral Pass trail past politically incorrect Squaw Lake to scenic Cathedral Pass. We then would traverse the rough trail to cute Peggy’s Pond. The route then becomes a cross-country scramble to enigmatic Circle Lake. If time permits we will continue with an assault on The Citadel and traverse past romantic Venus Lake to Dark Spade Lake. Our party consisted of Mark, myself, and Tres the Trail Dog. As in any expedition planning was extensive with many practice runs as well as e-mail working out the vagaries of route and conditions. The sun arose blood red on the day of the trip in the eyes of all as we ascended scenic Snoqualmie Pass until the turn off to sad Roslyn (mourning the untimely demise of Northern Exposure). Passing the thriving hamlet of Ronald we continued up the dusty road to Fish Lake only to find a full parking lot at the Cathedral Pass trailhead. Many horse trailers barred our passage but after extensive exploration a suitable berth was found adjacent the road, a decision we would later rue. We started up the trail with few difficulties pausing to gaze in wonder at the once proud Cle Elm River Bridge laying as a twisted ruin in the parking lot. Luckily, a crossing was made on a partial reconstruction of the bridge but without the reassuring handrails. The first few switchbacks ascent was uneventful until at the last large switch back we espied an earnest young man clad in a yellow Speedo, International Orange cap, 1 Liter capacity knapsack, and large caliber rifle scanning up and down the trail and hillside above the parking lot. Pleasantries were exchanged and later we mused to ourselves as to what he would due if he were lucky enough to see a large buck, and how he would retrieve it if it did not promptly die on the spot from laughter. Proceeding up the trial we passed a group of giggling highschoolers and arrived at Squaw Lake. Here were the only blueberries of the trip few and bland, not a good omen. Further up the tail a group of mounted hunters passed us who warned of crowed conditions ahead. Nonetheless we persevered, pausing for lunch at a meadow with snow burned and desiccated blueberries as our only companions. The way continued past the intersection with the PCT and it’s ominous warning signs of flood conditions on Daniels Creek (amateurishly crossed out) until scenic Cathedral Pass. At the pass we fretfully scanned the South East Ridge trying to find a route among the scree, snow, and cliffs well knowing that many parties had come to grief in that area. Imagining we saw a route we doggedly persevered crossing the shifting sands and windfalls of the “trail” to Peggy’s Pond. Arriving at Peggy’s we found the area to be quite crowded and all campsites free of snow with only a few patches left. Suspicious eyes starred at us with the unstated hope that we would not camp in their vicinity especially with Tres. To their relief, after a brief pause we began the ascent of the Southeast Ridge. At about c.a. 5940 we saw a definite path leading off to the left, after extensive consultations with map, compass and GPS we preceded along it. We continued to ascend and traverse until we turned the corner between c.a. 6200and 6300. There was a vague path marked with intermittent cairns. At the first snow patch we determined that it was near here that Wee Lad had come to grief. Raising glasses of single malt we invoked the memory of William Wallace and solemnly intoned the incantation “You may take our Ice Axes but you cannot ever take our Freedom” and continued. Alas the Wee one had been too low. Tres the trail dog unfailingly found the route and had no problem with the scree, snow, and rock. Continuing on we arrive at the campsites on the low ridge on the east side of Circle Lake. Scanning the horizon we saw an intimidating hard snow slope between us and The Citadel and the remainder of our proposed route. Mosquitoes and flies abounded but disappeared at sunset. An F-14 came up the valley over Deep Lake and screamed around Cathedral Peak giving us a nice show. After a meal of Kim Chee Ramen, veggies, landsjeager, and stir-fried pork we watched the stars until fatigue overcame us. In the morn we decided to ascend the ridge toward Daniels rather than continue. It was quite easy to find a path to the ridge crest. There was considerable snow on the route and we decided to enjoy the view and descend rather than repeat a summit climb. We proceeded back along our route to Peggy’s, which was near deserted by now although Tres found another canine to growl at. The trail to Cathedral seemed easier on the return although we saw one hiker with a full beard and nose shield who’s appearance resembled a bears head placed on a mans body by a playful deity (Raven or Loki perhaps'). The down hill trail seemed much longer than it had been on the way up. Arriving at our car we noticed that it had been parked in the sun and was too hot to touch. Driving down the road we had two large campers pull out in front of us to provide an impenetrable dust cloud. They then pulled of to let us pass for which we are eternally grateful. There was a jam on I-90 due to construction (but nothing in comparison to that on US 2, according to the 11 PM news. In summation the area was beautiful and we al hope to return soon.

6 of us (Lord Beefus, Drema, Professor Frink, KMoney, MadeInTaiwan, and Sir PackItOut) camped on Friday Night, September 17th at Tucquala Meadows Campground. The elk across the meadow made strange noises that sounded like screaming children all night. In the morning, we woke, packed, and hit trail 1345 up the ridge toward Cathedral Rock. We met Don, Mark and Tres the Trail Dog (Border Collie, I believe) in the parking lot. They were kind enough to take our picture and fetch several thrown sticks. Tres would later show her disdain for our hiking ability by running circles around us on the trail. Having started around 11:00, we hit Squaw lake around 12:30 and had a quick lunch. We met yellow-speedo-man halfway up, but didn't want to break our pace to talk (See Don's report). Several people from the Tri-cities area were playing with frogs in the water. Tramping up the ridge from there, we passed several cheerful girls skipping down the ridge and ended up at the base of Cathedral Rock around 1:30-2:00. There's a bit of snow around Cathedral Rock, but none on the trail. We somehow missed the trail to Deception Pass at first, and started to head around the South Side of Cathedral Rock. Returning to the first switchback, we navigated our way through a meadow on an animal trail to the North-bound trail to Deception Pass, trying to make as little impact as possible. The PCT to Deception Pass is overgrown in places, with several deadfalls and a lot of rocks. An F-14 startled us when it passed directly overhead (maybe around 4:00). We got few views of Hyas Lake below us through the trees and saw several nice waterfalls above us. A couple of the creek crossings are a little difficult with unbalanced packs, but are managable if you take your time. We hit Deception Pass around sundown. The mosquitoes were terrible around the campsite, but they disappeared with the sun fairly quickly. For all the reported crowds, we saw nobody after Catherdral Rock until the next morning. We slept in until about 8:00, but had to pack quickly and postponed breakfast on account of the return of the bugs. We hiked down to Hyas, stopping for cereal and milkman along a creek on the way, and returned to the parking lot around noon.

Beautifil day on this side of hill although humidity very high for this area Walked to Squaw Lake. Lots of loose rock ,meltwater on trail. Nontroublesome snowpatches near lake. Two blowdowns, again nontroublesome. Population density on trail very low. Misquitoes in vicinity of lake extremely numerous and hungry ,even in bright sun at midday. Trail #1322 (Trail Creek) under snow at start. Completely lost it in first 100 feet.