I started this hike with the following expectations on a scale of 1 - 10

weather - 8

Smoke - 5

hike - 7

For weather, it was a 9. It was crystal clear and beautiful. If it was 65 degrees then it would have been a 10, but I can't complain. It was an amazing beautiful day.

The smoke cleared out and that part was a 10.

From the descriptions, I assumed it would be a hike through uninteresting terrain and ending with a big rock. With the lakes and the amazing views and the sheer massiveness of Cathedral Rock, I definitely give the hike a 9. We have to leave room for others to be better, but this one is in my top 10. What a special place.

Backing up, let's consider the drive. I came from Seattle and have not explored this side of the mountains yet. I have a new Subaru Forester and want to push the limits to get to some interesting trails. Plus, if the road is challenging then that will limit the crowds! Getting to exit 80 on I-90 is trivial. The road from there is where you will spend your time. This was my first trip through Roslyn and I want to come back to explore the town - it looks like fun. This could add interest to your day if you need it.

The speed limit from Roslyn is mostly 35 which makes the road take a while. And of course, there is that last 12 miles of unpaved road. The road is very good in many places but many sections are washboard and potholes and some are pretty rocky which you need to be careful of with your tires. There is one creek crossing which is not rough and not deep. I saw Honda Civics in the parking lot so if they made it then you can too.

Ok, you have persevered and made it to the parking lot. There are actually three lots here. One for the Cathedral Pass trail, another about 100 yard down the road for the Deception Pass trail, and an overflow lot between them. I easily found a spot in the overflow lot, but there are also places to park along the road if all are full. Judging by the number of cars, I estimated a pretty good load on the trail, but I think many of these were overnighters as the trail was not busy at all. In fact, I encountered a couple of overnight groups, a couple of which had climbed Mount Daniel.

Definitely stop at the large lake to the left of the trail. WTA is encouraging a name change since it has a derogatory name. If you have influence in that area, perhaps it would be a good effort. Anyway, I will not use the name here. The lake was peaceful and quiet as I was the only one there at the time. Definitely a great rest spot.

Ok, you have had your rest not let's get on with this. You still have a bit of climbing to do but you will soon encounter some open meadows and beautiful scenes. There are a couple of small ponds and lakes before the top which are nice and some pretty meadows. Also keep your eyes out for fresh blueberries all along the trail. They are sweet and tasty.

Once I reached the intersection with the PCT, I headed left, toward Cathedral Rock. You can also go a bit to the right and get some great views of the rock across the meadow area there.

Seeing it in person was spectacular. It is enormous and commanding. Heading to the left on the PCT, you will soon crest over the pass. Just a bit further, there is a rocky area to the right which is a great place to rest and have lunch. A bit of shade can be found if you look around.

I took the suggestion of the pro tip in the hike description and went another .1 mile to the intersection of the trail to Peggy's Pond. From the vantage point, you can get a great view of Deep Lake far below, the back side of Cathedral Rock, and an upclose view of neighboring Mount Daniel. You might be tempted to continue your hike and bag - it looks like it is right there!

Overall, I would highly recommend this hike and say that it is worth the effort to get to the trailhead. It provided the perfect place for my day.

We took 5 days to do the Circle, Venus, Spade, and Deep Lake loop.  This does take some off trail route finding experience to do.  

Day 1: We hiked from the trail head past Peggy's Pond to Circle Lake.  Following the trail to Peggy's Pond is pretty easy.  Once you are at Peggy's Pond be sure to find the boot path to Mt Daniels behind Peggy's Pond and follow it up.  Don't follow the trails that start to cut across towards Circle Lake.  Those trails will stop once you get to some deep gully's that are super hard to get across.  When you take the boot path up towards Mt. Daniels you eventually get to a junction where you can go up to Mt. Daniels or over to Circle Lake.  Take the trail towards Circle Lake  Once you are on this trail it isn't hard to follow.  On the attached map, it is the route in red from Peggy's Pond to Circle Lake. (About 8.5 miles)

Day 2: We hiked from Circle Lake to Venus Lake.  We found that the best place to go over the ridge was just below the ledge coming off the Citadel. (We called the ledge "Pride Rock".) It is very steep and loose, but not too bad if you are used to this type of mountain travel.  As you are climbing up to the ridge, you will come across a snow field that you have to cross.  The crossing isn't very long or steep.  When you do come to this snow field, we dropped our packs, and went up onto "Pride Rock".  It is not difficult or technical to get onto this ledge and the views are well worth it.  Also, once you get on the ridge, it is worth walking along the ridge to take in all of the views. (About 3.5-4 miles, but it was difficult travel.)

Day 3: We dropped down to Spade Lake.  This was super easy. (About 1 mile)

Day 4: We dropped down to the PCT and hiked up to Deep Lake. (About 7.5 miles)

Day 5: We hiked up to Cathedral Pass and then out to the car.  (About 6-7 miles)

So, looking for a loop, I discovered Hyas Lake and Cathedral Rock. The Hike along Hyas Lake is easy and nice. Bugs are around at this time of the month, particularly at the north end of the lake. Hyas Lake is inviting so take a dip if you have the time. Most places to sit and view the lake are really campsites, so keep this in mind when looking for a view. Perhaps it’s best to plan a night here and enjoy the scenery. Continuing on I ended up at East End Pass (I think). It’s a connector along the PCT trail and there are plenty of directions to go. I took a sharp left as soon as reached the pass and started back along the other side of the loop. The water coming from Lynch peak can be fun to cross, one in particular is a little dicey, but it’s possible to get across. Afterwards comes the forest of sleeping trees; if you like obstacles and fallen trees in particular look no further! As you cross the area it’s possible to lose the path so make sure you have a map, or an app to help you know if you’ve branched of the beaten path as it’s easy to do. The trail is mostly uphill, and unfortunately there really isn’t much of a view of Hyas Lake on this side of the loop. But you do get up close views of the ominous, Cathedral Rock! Soon the climbing is over and you’re passing through a flat, meadow of sorts, and turning the cornerstone of the cathedral, you get to the intersection. It’s here where you can go behind Cathedral Rock and stay at one of the many lakes back there, such as Deep Lake, or Peggy Lake. Otherwise hike on and follow the Cathedral Rock trail past Squaw Lake and back down to the trailhead. Although, before you get back to the parking lot(s) which are close together, take time to cool off in one of the small lakes along the way! You’ll get back looking fresh and ready for a hike!

First off, the road conditions. Fortunately, all of the road along Cle Elum Lake is paved. Unfortunately, once you reach the end of the lake, you have about 12 miles of gravel road to contend with. Expect this to take about 45 minutes best case, probably over an hour in a car without much clearance. We did see some regular cars at the trailhead, but not many - most were trucks, SUVs, and crossovers with better clearance.

When we arrived at 9am on Sunday, we got the last parking space next to the Cathedral Pass trailhead, though there might have been some spots up the road a bit. Plenty of room along the road for overflow, and a few overnighters were already parked there. The toilet at the trailhead was clean and well stocked.

The Cathedral Pass trail is in great shape. There is one blowdown before you reach Squaw Lake, but it's easily stepped over. Anyone with a small trail saw could take care of it.

The tarns just below Cathedral Pass are quite nice, and there are more of them just off the trail beyond the ones you can see. Most are too shallow for swimming, but they are pretty! Once you crest the ridge and start down the west side, the views of Daniel and surrounding peaks are astounding. Truly, it's like you've left one world and entered another when you cross that ridge.

The trail to Peggy's Pond is well signed, though the sign is laying on the ground. The trail itself is a boot path scraped out of cliffsides and steep scree on the edge of Cathedral Rock. It's not one I would recommend with little kids or anyone who is afraid of heights, or isn't comfortable with a bit of scrambling. There wasn't anything too crazy to climb over, but there was exposure in places, where if you slipped and fell down the slope it could be pretty bad. Note - there is one place where it's a bit hard to tell which way to go. Fortunately, someone placed a cairn to lead the way - you need to stay high to be on the trail. 

Peggy's Pond was incredibly gorgeous with the deep bluish green water, and the backdrop of Cathedral Rock. Bugs were not too bad as long as the wind was blowing a bit. This lake is perfect for swimming and has lovely deep, cool water. Quite a few places to camp. We didn't have time to explore around but this would be a great place to overnight and explore the area, whether or not you're planning to go up Mount Daniel. 

We saw mostly backpackers on this trail, and just a few day hikers like ourselves. Some climbers with ice axes who were probably returning from Daniel or other adventurous pursuits. Given the number of cars at the trailhead, I was surprised at how much solitude we had on trail - we had some 30 minute stretches where we didn't see anyone. I suspect many/most of the people parked here were heading toward Hyas Lake or Tuck and Robin Lakes.

Stats: Time 5.5 hours, distance around 10.5 miles, elevation gain about 2500'. Our Garmins said there was more climbing (about 2900') but I don't believe it since there was only 200-300' of counter elevation, and it's only 2200' of gain to the high point of the trail.

Hiked a five day backpack loop with three friends starting at Tucquala Meadows, up Cathedral Ridge trail to the Trail Cr trail junction, then up to Lake Michael on night one. A trail crew was working on the Cathedral trail, clearing drainage and deadfalls. The 4 mile trail up to Lake Michael is in poor condition mainly due to it's steep grade on most slopes combined with many deadfalls (some step overs, some walkarounds),water runoff, and horse damage. Its trenched and filled with loose cobbles in most sloped areas. There's a decent camp at the far end of the lake and its a pretty spot. Sparse wildflowers and few bugs along the way and at the lake.

On day two we climbed back up from Michael and went down the Trail Creek trail to a nice camp on the west shore of Waptus lake. Also many deadfalls on the Trail Cr trail, again mostly step overs and a few walk arounds. The Trail Creek ford to the Waptus river trail and the horse ford back across the Waptus river to the west camps were both easy knee deep wades. There are lots of nice lake side camps on both sides of the lake at the outlet end. We took an extra rest day here and spent some time swimming and walking the east side lake trail. The view of Bears Breast Mountain from the lake is spectacular. There are nice beaches for swimming. Bugs were very mild here also. Mostly just a few mosquitos. 

On day four we took the Spinola connector trail up to the PCT and Deep Lake. This section had some significant deadfalls across the trail in numerous places, but otherwise a very easy uphill walk on pleasant PCT switchbacks. The best wildflowers of the trip were located along this trail. About halfway up to the Deep Lake cirque there is a "camping" sign and faint trail leading from a trail switchback to a cliffside view of a fantastic series of waterfalls on Spinola Creek. Well worth dropping the packs at the switchback and taking the side trip. We camped the fourth night at Deep Lake, where the mosquitos were thick and ferocious. Bug spray, long sleeves and net hats were a big help. There are several camps on the east side of the lake and a nice one on the west near the outlet logjam. One of our group hiked up to Lake Vincente from camp. The trail there is still partially covered with snow near the top.

Our last day we went up the PCT to Cathedral Pass then down the Cathedral Ridge trail past Squaw Lake and back on down to Tucquala Meadows and our cars. Much progress on the trail by the crew working there. Many thanks to them for their work. Them off to Roslyn for burgers and home.