With the heavy precipitation expected over the next couple of days, this may have been my last higher Cascades for the year. Sigh. But I am grateful to have been able to get this one done. I've been up to Squaw Lake before but I never went farther up to get a view of Cathedral Rock. Quite an impressive hunk of rock. I didn't go all the way to the base as I wasn't sure how well I would be able to see it and also the front of the system was just beginning to pass overhead with a raindrop here and there. The trail was rather wet and muddy in places due to the last small system that went through a couple of days ago. The higher up, the more mud. Almost all of it was easily hopped by or around without any real mushiness except for a few places which required some careful footing. The snow on the ground from the previous showers started around the lake and kept getting more pronounced the higher up I went (well, no, duh! lol). Easy to walk through--easier than the mud. There was notable frost/ice along the trail for most of the length in numerous places. I was worried about more forming after nightfall as I was probably going to be coming down 1-2 hours after sunset. In actuality, as I was heading up close to sunset I was noticing the temperature dropping (it was still clear) but when the system moved in it seemed to halt the drop so I never had to deal with additional frost/ice. Ah, the insulation of water vapor. I didn't have to deal with any more ice going down than I did going up. The road, though, I don't think I ever want to try to imagine what it's going to be like next spring. Pothole city, puddles everywhere (some kinda deep) and some over the entire road. I think it's about a 10 mile distance from Salmon La Sac and I could only go about 10-15 for the length of it. All in all, nothing else to report other than after this system goes through it's probably not going to be a good idea attempting to hike the higher elevations. Best to wait for good snowfall for shoeing or skiing.

Mainly posting this to make sure that there is a clear report that says the summit of Mount Daniel is NOT an "easy walk-up." Due to low water levels, the Forest Service road portion of the trip was easy, but 12 miles on a road like that is awful. It took ~1 hour to go the 12 miles. Not too bad on the way there, but it's a LONG hour on the way back. Through Cathedral Rock, the trail is meticulously maintained and obvious. Strenuous, but not dangerous or challenging beyond the consistent uphill path. There's some (easy) trail-finding between Cathedral Rock and Peggy's Pond (hint: have Gaia on your phone). The trip from Peggy's Pond to the trail that leads to the Mount Daniel Summit is NOT obvious. Most reviews here and on Summitpost say "just follow the cairns!" but there are a ton of cairns. Generally, you want to make your way "up." You'll come across some extraordinarily loose rock on your way to the actual trail, at which point the path will be obvious. Based on my experience, between 7000' and 7200' it goes beyond "walk up" level of difficulty/hazard. There are some very exposed sections with the path sloping toward a big drop with little to use as hand holds. Around that point, I spent some time talking with a kind fellow who had made the top, and he talked about "moves" (as in, scrambling moves... as opposed to "keep hiking until you get to the top") at two distinct spots after the sketchy section I was on. Upon reaching the next "sloping toward a nasty fall" spot, I turned around. I'll point out the above is a product of my skill level/level of comfort. I'm sure someone else could hike up to the top without any second thoughts and talk about how easy it was. I just want to make sure that people that have done Bandera, Granite Mountain (the one with the fire lookout on I-90), etc. and are looking for something "more," know that this is NOT a walk-up the way those are. (if you're looking for 7000'+ walk-up, look at the Fourth of July Trail to one of the Icicle Ridge summits. Rock Mountain [the one off of Rt 2 ~10 miles after Stevens Pass] is 6800' and awesome, too.) Don't let any of this make you think it's not a picturesque trip. You're WAYYY up there, and Peggy's Pond is a great destination in and of itself, and the mountain sights are pretty neat the whole way. Just because getting to the top is a bit tough doesn't mean you should skip the hike as a whole. After Peggy's Pond, there's no trail in any layer on Gaia, so if you need the GPX, please reply, and I'll see what I can do to post a link. When you're actually up there, even the GPX file doesn't make the path obvious. Note that it's easy to lose the trail after Peggy's Pond on the way back down, so keep your eyes open. ** I didn't go up the Cathedral Rock "trail," but included it in the trip report title being that it's a significant waypoint on the way to Peggy's Pond and Mount Daniel.

Reached the trailhead just before noon. The stream crossing on FR-4340 was dry, and plenty of cars with low-clearance had made it to the end of the road, but must have spent a long time to do so, given all the potholes and mud puddles. Both the Cathedral Pass and the adjacent Deception Pass parking lots were full, with cars even filling up the spots reserved for horse-trailers, but there was space to park in a small meadow between the two trailheads. Had lunch at Squaw Lake, and set up camp at a nice, established spot on Deep Lake Ridge, just south of Cathedral Pass (after burying the human waste and toilet paper left behind by previous occupants). Hiked for a bit along an on-and-off trail along Deep Lake Ridge until we got views down to Deep Lake, and south to Mt Rainier. The trail had plenty of rocks and roots, but no obstacles. Didn't see any flowing water near the trail, so the only water source was stagnant water from the lakes/ponds. Encountered a dozen or so parties, most of them climbers, a few through-hikers, and only one party of (empty-handed) hunters. Wildlife: Heard pikas and saw one dear at Squaw Lake. Great fall colors, and lots of blueberries, but most of them were past their prime.

Our Volunteer Vacation crew of eleven arrived at the Tucquala Meadows trailhead early on Saturday morning to find a very crowded parking area (Labor Day weekend!). The climb up to Squaw Lake is relentlessly UP, though there are only a few really strenuous sections. The lake is quite pretty, and there are nice views across the valley from the pika village on the talus slope. The blueberries were abundant and ripe, yum! Fall has definitely arrived at this elevation, with evening temps dropping into the mid-thirties. We had on-and-off showers until Friday, when it finally warmed up enough for us to enjoy some swimming and "basking" time in the afternoon. We managed to do a good deal of tread and drainage repair. The hike up to Cathedral Rock and Peggy's Pond is easy from Squaw Lake and offers great views.

We spent two days on a long loop: from Tucquela Meadows trailhead, up to Cathedral Pass, around Cathedral Rock to Peggy's Pond on Day 1; and then back to the PCT and to Deception Pass, and around to Hyas Lake, returning to the trailhead. The trail up to Cathedral Pass/PCT was in great shape, albeit a long steep 2500 foot climb. Beautiful meadows leading to the foot of Cathedral Rock during the last mile. Getting to Peggy's Pond, however, was dicey. It's unmarked, but a clear path leading off to the north when the rest of the trail hairpins south and down toward Deep Lake. The mile from there to the lake is a bit dicey, and at times most of the trail has slid away. You have to navigate carefully along the wall in some parts to be safe. It's more than a mile to Peggy's Pond. Before you get to Peggy's Pond, there's a smaller tarn below it. We mistook the small tarn for the larger "Pond" and ended up finding a lovely and secluded campsite overlooking the tarn. Note - if you keep going west along the paths next to the tarn, past the water and up, you get to a striking promontory overlooking the Cascade range to the South and West. If you keep going, there's a small, perfect (but quite exposed) spot that would be perfect for a summer campsite. Meanwhile, after we set up camp, we realized our mistake and hiked up the quarter mile or so to see Peggy's Pond. There were a number of campers spread out among many potential campsites, and the lake there is bigger and much more amenable to swimming than the smaller tarn. (There are toilets too.) But you won't be alone. The next day, we doubled back the difficult trail to the PCT and headed north to Deception Pass. You go from 5600 feet to 3500 feet and back up to 4500 feet at the pass. There are around 10-20 blowdowns on the way. In late August, the big stream crossings were not hard, but tricky nevertheless (only one of us got our boots wet). At Deception Pass we turned south down toward Hyas, and after all the climbing and descending, it was a relatively steady descent followed by a long relatively flat lakeside trail. After the sights of Cathedral Rock and Mount Daniel, the last few miles, though not strenuous, were a little boring.