Three day backpacking trip with some friends was a success! (Mostly). Getting to the trail-head, in-and-of itself is a task; as the dirt road is gruelingly long, with lots of sizable potholes, kicked up dust (drier months only) and a creek crossing only suitable for high-clearance vehicles. We arrived at the trail-head around 9:30 AM, with Peggy's pond as the first days destination. The trek up was a minor challenge due to the hot dry weather, but once at Squaw lake it was nice and refreshing to take a rest and a dip in the ice cold lake. The bugs were almost unbearable, and this foreshadowed what was to come. After about an hour resting up & cooling off at Squaw, we decided to take off, headed towards our destination. It was about 90 degrees in the sun and dry as a bone once at the PCT junction to Peggy's, which was very tough to get through to say the least. On the switchbacks down past the PCT junction, and across the steep exposed side of Cathedral rock, we made it across the rockfall and steep beaten path to the other-side (proper footing here is a must, and handholds on the rock may become necessary with weight on your back). We all ran out of water before the junction, so luckily we were able to fill up at the small pond/waterfall directly below the path up to Peggy's, as it was dangerously hot and dry to continue without hydration. Once at Peggy's we were greeted with a gorgeous view of Cathedral rock, and Mt. Daniels east face. We setup camp on a flat clearing right on the lake, and enjoyed the rest of the evening. The bugs were bad, but not nearly as bad as the days to come. The second day, woke up to sunshine peaking right over cathedral rock, and decided to keep camp in the spot for the duration of the trip and spend the day hiking/climbing Mt Daniels. The bugs were getting out of hand at this point, so we quickly geared up, ate a late breakfast and headed towards the Daniel's boot path. As the day progressed, going up the center of the Daniels valley, one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed happened; as two fighter jet aircraft (looked like two F-15 Eagles from the distance we were at) flew by in what seemed to be a simulated dogfight right between Daniels and Cathedral rock, one about to break the sound barrier as the condensed air pressure from the nose of the plane was expanding. A sight to see indeed! Spirits were high, and our eyes were set on the plateau just above the rock fall to lookers right. We decided to head down back to camp, and after a few Glissades down the glaciers, we left with an amazing memory of an adventure that we wont soon forget. The bugs at this point were unbearable and we were forced to hike around some primitive trails and beaten paths to avoid the wrath of the blood sucking infestation. Our last night was spent around a small campfire (made really as a natural deterrent to the mosquitoes that were feasting on us), then stargazing once the sun gently passed behind Daniels. Both nights were perfectly clear, The Milky Way shimmering above and Venus peaking over the summit of Cathedral Rock. Our last morning and hike down was a breeze and a welcome decent, to get away from the vermin that plagued the pond this time of year. All-in-all, 10/10 for the experience and views, 8/10 overall since the bugs were so incredibly annoying. I Will be back in the future to Ski Daniels!

We made a loop beginning from Cathedral Pass trail, picking up the PCT heading north, and then at Deception Pass returning along the Deception Pass trail along Lake Hyas back to the trailhead. Arrived at the TH 9am Sunday, lots of cars but folks were beginning to leave after wrapping up overnights. We did not see many folks on the trail, though - a handful of parties making their way out, and one masked Forest Ranger making the rounds. 

This was a beautiful loop. We covered around 14.5 miles and 3300 vertical feet. The weather went from cool and light rain to pleasant sun breaks at 65 degrees. There was intermittent snow along the PCT section, but nothing technical and it was very easy to cross. Colorful wildflowers were around in the lower meadows just starting to come in along the higher areas. There are numerous stream crossings, but only one which was worth really pausing to seek out the best place to ford. For others doing this hike, there’s a cairn where some folks are crossing just where the trail hits the stream, but it requires a deeper crossing in faster moving water. I suggest looking downstream a couple hundred feet from where the trail arrives at the stream—there is a shallow pool with an island in the middle above a slide. You can cross there and you won’t have water above your knees. 

A beautiful hike overall. Not too difficult, but a nice way to spend a day. The bugs were out but not a problem since we were moving for the most part. 

I started my hike from Cathedral Pass Trail with the goal of reaching one or more of the Mt. Daniel prominences (something that had been on my bucket list since last Summer). I originally considered doing an overnight, but ended up doing a car-to-car single day push instead (which I don't recommend, having done it once).

The drive in is paved until after the Salmon la Sac campground and is bumpy/washboarded the remainder of the way. I saw low-clearance vehicles at the trailhead, but I would recommend a higher clearance vehicle for comfort and because Scatter creek is still flowing over the road a few inches.

Arrived at 10:30 and had to squeeze in an awkward spot right in front of the trailhead by the grass (fortunately I wasn't visited by field mice this time!!).

Got out of the car and got bombarded nigh instantly by mosquitos. I stuffed my gear in my pack as quickly as possible and set out with my Oboz Bridgers as my approach boots. This was pretty much a theme the rest of the trip, minus the windier/snowier sections.

The trail up to Squaw Lake was very wet/muddy in sections and steeper than I anticipated for the distance. Much of the water was shallow on the way to the lake.

Squaw Lake is completely thawed and there's a small creek [outlet] that needs to be crossed on the east side of the lake. The best way to negotiate this (since it was going up over my Bridgers) would be to use sandals or hop along the rocks to the side.

After Squaw Lake there was patchy snowpack with standing water over the trail in areas up to Cathedral Pass. One can avoid most of the standing water by sticking to the snow if at all possible, using gaiters, or by just bringing higher top boots. My Bridgers worked ok in this area, but I did my best to not run through or splash the puddles ;).

The traverse from Cathedral Pass to Peggy's Pond was a narrow, steep goat trail along rock, some loose scree, and through more durable forested area. The path was snow free up until the last 1/4 mile with a single tree that needs to be hopped over to get to the pond. From Peggy's Pond to the Mt. Daniel east peak summit block, there's pretty much persistent snowpack.

After reading recommendations and talking with folks, I decided to not take the summer trail. Instead, I tested the snowpack and after deeming it largely stable I hiked up old [glacial] terminal moraine. I didn't use my crampons on the ascent (I used my ice axe, a trekking pole, and climbing helmet), but I used crampons on the descent for safety. There was tons of rotten corn snow on the top-layers made the descent tricky in the afternoon, even with crampons, and the layers underneath which had been skied on were pretty icy/hard Cascade Concrete consistency.

I observed some D1 wet loose conditions on the descent along with some top-layer sliding and my kicking down fist-sized rollerballs with my crampons.

The east peak summit block is snow free in the last 300' (it's a light class 2+/3 scramble). I opted against down climbing to the other higher peak because a) I was tired, b) it was more socked in, and c) I didn't want to up and down climb up kitty litter scree part of the way.

For the record, there's no good way to glissade down safely due to cliffing and exposed rock; the old terminal moraine can be skied down if one is nimble and comfortable doing steeper (double black) slopes.

There are lots of creeks underneath the snow that I noticed starting to open up on the way down from the summit, as well as tarns/lakes.

I did the walkout as the sun was setting with the final hour being done entirely in the dark. I finally got back to my car around 20:00 and was both mentally and physically exhausted (thankfully I had some caffeine in the car waiting for me).

18 miles R/T and 5k'+; took me about 6.5 hours to summit and 4.5 hours to get back to the car (discounting breaks, transition times, time spent chatting with hikers/campers, etc).

I took 3L water and ran out approximately 4 miles from the end of the trail. I would have filtered more, but my water filtering gear was buried under climbing gear that would have been extremely annoying to untangle while being mobbed by mosquitos. I ended up eating clean snow wherever I possibly could to avoid risk of getting Giardia.

Gear Requirements

• Climbing helmet.
• Ice axe.
• Mountaineering boots or hard boots (for skinning).
• Mountaineering microspikes or crampons (recommend the latter).
• Layers (it was nippy up there with the wind/temps).

Two night loop with lots of side trips to offshoot lake trails. Cathedral Pass still very snowy, but Deep Lake is fine, as is PCT to Waptus Lake and Trail Creek back to Cathedral trail. Some patches on the side trails but all doable! If you go counterclockwise as we did remember you do the horse ford over the Waptus River (it’s obvious footbridge is out from the other direction but not as clear this way). Bring you sandals for this crossing as well as the deeper and swifter crossing on Trail Creek, as well as a few other smaller streams running high now. 

The first really warm days in our June-uary saw me along with just about everyone else eager to get out, go camping, and hit the trails.  My nephew and I  snagged one of the last spots at Salmon la Sac (got there at noon on Thursday), and on Friday drove the slow, potholed forest service road to Tuquala Meadows and beyond to the trailhead. There were 3 small road lakes to cross, the first being the scariest-- high clearance would be good. (We had a Subaru which was sketchy). The expansive meadows around the lake are ready to bloom in the next week or two and should be quite a sight. All the dispersed campsites along the lake/river were also pretty much taken, but the trailhead wasn't so busy.  

After about 2 and a half miles, we saw why. From the junction for Waptus Lake Trail it's feet of snow. A returning backpacker said he couldn't find Squaw Lake though he looked for an hour, and said every else he passed was wearing skis. Oh well-- the dogs loved the snow, and I hope to return for a loop hike later in the summer. The trail is wet in many places with several small and one large creek crossing-- the first crossing not far from the trailhead is the trickiest, but you can scout a way across.