Did a loop from Tulacua Meadows to Squaw Lake, Cathedral Rock, Deception Pass and back down along Hiyas Lake. The first two miles are up and up but the trail is well graded and in very good condition. Squaw Lake is smallish, shallow and warm so bring a swimsuit. I highly recommend a detour to the trail to Peggy’ Pond but the trail itself is rough and exposed: I turned back half way. Cathedral Rock is monumental and the views are worth the trip. The walk to Deception Pass and back along Hiyas lake quite pleasant. Correction to directions: take exit 80 (not 84) to Roslyn. The last 12 miles to the TH are on a dirt road that is washboard most of the way. I made it in my sedan but it probably shortened its life by a year. Very few bugs up by Cathedral Rock but got a bit nasty at Deception Pass and along the lake.

What an adventure. Awesome country, pristine meadow, very challenging terrain. Few people. Trail free areas.

Day 1

*Drive to Tucquala meadows TH
* Cathedral Pass Trail , #1345

* Squaw Lake, 2.8 miles

* Junction with PCT, Views of Cathedral Rock, Spinola Meadows, 4 miles

* Junction with Peggys Pond trail, views over deep lake.
* Off trail cliffy meadow traverse to Circle Lake. My traverse started around 5800' and I climbed the ridgeline first behind peggy's pond and made a lot of the traverse a bit higher near 6100'. Watch for cairns, and be very careful. This section is extremely exposed, with awesome views above deep lake
* Circle lake, has very limited camp spots, only three dirt patches near the outflow, and a couple patches along the ridge over deep lake. Mosquito number are phenomenal 

Day 2

* Mount Daniel summit blocks. I started by picking my way up the green, and trees up to the high point above Circle Lake, around 7000'. This is the southernmost/ westernmost high point along the Mount Daniel summit ridge. As you approach the west summit the scrambling begins. Expect prolonged hiking along class 2 and 3 terrain with excellent hand holds and great though sometimes exciting foot holds. After the center summit, back track and find boot path descending toward scree field. This is most dangerous part. conditions are often changing, the scree features gullies of loose scree that slide at the slightest touch. You will need to down climb a particularly bad spot using the boulders for hand holds. Don't try it alone. Final summit block is fun and scrambly with room for two people to stand at the top, plus summit register. The summit ridge also is gorgeous featuring stunning views of Venus Lake, Spade Lake, Pea Soup Lake.... My how i love Mount Daniel.
* Went for a swim in squaw lake on the way back. The route back to Peggy Pong was very difficult and I almost got cliffed out, most stressful. I was also attacked by many swarms of 100s of mosquitos after the sudden hail storm and downpour that soaked my camp making everything very heavy. The mosquitos chew on me while i packed as quickly as possible. But when I got to Squaw, sun was out, no bugs either so I took a dip to clean my wounds, mental and physical, and finish the hike to the car in peace. 

Great Overnight at Jade, intermittent snow up to marmot and consistent snow above Marmot Lake, and one significant gully crossing with 5' of snow that required a bit of a skirt around, know your limits and be safe. 

There were so many creek crossings at the time of our hike you may as well just start with wet shoes and accept your fate and save some time. Great water access for the pups!

I cannot emphasis enough how fortunate those of us who live in the Seattle area are to have the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in our backyard.   After getting back into the mountains of this wilderness area a few weeks ago with a climb of Enchantment peak, my need to get in the alpine was satiated only for a short time.  I found myself daydreaming of rugged peaks, alpine lakes and mountaineering during my longer training runs through the Issy Alps.  I had to get back into the mountains soon.

An off day opened up mid-week and my thoughts turned towards another return to the Enchantments to have a go at McClellan and scratch another Bulger off my list.  But I had already been in that area and wanted something “fresher”.  My thoughts turned to Daniel and despite a forecast calling for possible thunderstorms in the area, I set my mind to getting back to the highpoint of King County, nestled in the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

I left my home in Issaquah at 4 AM and began the drive to the trailhead.  As dawn arrived, the skies were clear and I felt strongly I had made the right decision.  One of the bigger obstacles to an early season climb of Daniel is the drive on 4330.  I had drove the road once before in Late July of 2015 in my Mitsubishi Lancer and really didn’t recall having any issues with the road but in that summer, the snow was long gone and there was no water to ford at Scatter Creek (I believe this is the creek, shows you how much I pay attention).  This time was different, there was about two feet of water flowing through the ford, but I also had upgraded my vehicle to a 4Runner!  The ford went easily in the high clearance vehicle but I might have been skeptical about crossing in a passenger sedan.  I didn’t notice any low clearance vehicles past the ford, but did see a Subaru.  So if you are unsure about taking your car through this, you might want to hold off a couple more weeks until more snow melt occurs.

Past the ford the road was fine, some potholes and a couple areas of standing water but nothing as serious as the ford.  I pulled into the parking lot at 5:45 AM ecstatic to see only one other vehicle, made some final gear adjustments and was off.   Of note, the restroom at the trailhead is boarded up.

The first two miles of the trail to the junction with the Trail Creek Trail, are pretty smooth sailing.  There are a couple of blowdowns to cross over and within the first half mile you have a creek to cross that is full from meltwater.  I was able to find a place to skip across the rocks and avoid getting my shoes wet.  Some sections of the trail have flowing water but it is shallow and there are muddy patches as you gain elevation.

Once you hit the junction with Trail Creek, the snow starts and for the most part it covers the trail until you hit the PCT.   I definitely recommend having a map and compass with you and even an app like Gaia on your phone.  There drainage coming out of Squaw Lake is full.  To keep my feet dry, I worked my way across the logs that are jammed up on the lake shore.  The trail past Squaw Lake is completely covered and I found Gaia to be very handy to ensure I was on the right path and to save time wandering around.  Once I had eyes on Cathedral Rock it was much easier to make a direct path.  Fortunately the snow was consolidated and easy to move across.

Once you hit the PCT and cross over the pass to the south facing slopes, the trail is melted out.  I was very happy to see this as the section of trail that leads from the PCT to Peggy’s Pond, crosses some steep slopes that would have been tricky if snow covered.  There are still three chutes that are not completely melted out that you will have to cross over if you do this in the next two weeks or so. I found that I got enough purchase in my trail runners to cross these so traction stayed in my pack.  The third chute you cross is the most difficult as the middle is melted out so you have to down climb about six feet of snow to cross over to the other side and then climb back up six feet of snow.  But once you navigate these, you can make a direct path to Peggy’s Pond on the snow covered ground which is moderately steep.  Peggy’s Pond and that entire area is still covered in quite a bit of snow.  I refilled my water flasks here and then began my ascent of the SE Ridge.

With the ridge being snow covered, I was able to quickly make my way up it.  The snow had already softened enough by 8:00 AM that I didn’t use my crampons.  The snow covered flanks of the mountain gave it a new feel to me as compared to my ascent three years previous when we didn’t cross any snow.  I was surprised by how quickly I made progress and was soon at about 7,000’ in elevation where the snow covered ridge gave way to a rocky spine.  There is a boot path along the spine that is easy to follow with a couple of class three moves down low on it.  At about 7,200’ the spine continues upward to some more scrambling sections.  Given my experience from before, I knew there was be some tricky spots on the ridge but looking to my right, I could gain access to the snowfield below the ridge and could traverse my way to the base of the east peak on fairly moderate snowslopes.  I opted to do this since I could lay eyes on the whole section instead of taking a chance by staying on the ridge.

Because there is some exposure on this ridge and an unchecked fall would have some consequences below, I chose to put on my crampons and take out my ice axe here.  I quickly traversed this section as there was recent evidence of a cornice fail but as I crossed over beneath the ridge, it appeared that it was the final cornice to give way and that there wasn’t much reason for there to be concern of further cornice failures.

At the col to the south of east peak I dropped down to make the traverse over to the west peak.  This was easily the most difficult section of the climb.  In the summer, you are side hilling steep scree slopes and at this time it is steep scree and snow.  The snow wasn’t bad to traverse but the scree was hard as rock and I had some trouble finding purchase with my shoes.  While I never felt unsafe, it was definitely tedious and I was glad to be done with it.  From there the last section over to the summit went quickly and the summit block as a couple of non-exposed class 3 moves.  I had hoped to spend a lot of time at the summit soaking in the views but noticed thunderstorms building to the north and east of me.  Mount Stuart was getting hammered!  So my visit was short lived and I dropped back down from the summit block.  This time I took a better line on the side hilling and it went much easier. 

I made the col so quickly that I decided to bust up east peak real quick since I hadn’t been up there before.  Another quick summit visit and then it was off to the races.  I had removed my crampons and didn’t find them necessary as I made my way back down to the ridge.  Making my way back to Peggy’s Pond, I experienced some of my best standing glissades but there is definitely glissading options here as well.

Rest of the return to the trailhead went uneventfully!

Some side notes:  bugs were noticeable but not irritating (I was not wearing repellant).  I had cell service once I gained the ridgeline.  Some flowers are starting to show but it is still a couple of weeks out before they really get going.  No goats seen but also no other humans so I consider that a fair trade.   Highly recommend this one for the 360 views alone.  I can’t think of a better perch to show off the Alpine Lakes Wilderness than this one.

Aside from the usual stream crossing, the trail was free of obstacles and in extremely great shape. One addition to everyone else's comments, WTA in 2016 changed the northern loop a bit, adding about 0.5 miles. The junction between PCT and Deception Pass Trail now occurs a little further north with the campground between PCT and DPT still intact but now more of a sideshow to PCT rather than the actual junction resting point between the two trails. The PCT continues on northward and the DPT trail sign can be seen engraved on a new wooden placard a couple hundred feet south of the fork. The Hyas lakes (Upper and Lower) were relatively accessible. Where most other lakes would have shown drier lake beds, these two appeared accessible and a-ok, though not warm by any means. We found water sources almost at every 2-3 miles on the trail (often more frequently). When fording the stream at mile marker 9 (clockwise), please be very careful. It is still fast moving and super slippery without designated fording areas. Please be careful.

Eddie