'Never Ending Ridge' Mt Daniel

Trip Report

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Mount Daniel

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'Never Ending Ridge' Mt Daniel

Mt. Daniel SE Ridge

Mt. Daniel in October

Mt Daniel

Mt. Daniel, Hyas Glacier variant

'Never Ending Ridge' Mt Daniel

Page Type: Trip Report

Location: Washington, United States, North America

Date Climbed/Hiked: Jul 29, 2005

Activities: Scrambling

Season: Summer

Page By: tazz

Created/Edited: Mar 12, 2006 / Mar 18, 2006

Object ID: 180350

Hits: 3226

Page Score: 89.2% - 15 Votes

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A hot day ahead!

Mt Daniel is a mountain I have wanted to climb every since I saw it from Robins Lakes (Image Below) and Granite peak. Mt. Daniel is a massive, broad mountain with a 2.5-3 mile long ridge holding three summmits. It is located in the Alpine Lake Wilderness Of Washington State.It is surrounded by Many alpine lakes and beautiful peaks of the area.

A friend from NWhikers.net and I decided we would climb the SE ridge route instead of the Lynch Glacier route. We both really wanted to take Lynch glacier route but it was going to be hot and we really didn’t want to lug all the gear up. I can always go back in the spring when the Lynch glacier route is better anyways.

I Met up with Jeff At the Tuequala Meadows trail head around 7:00 am or so. It was a clear beautiful morning. Starting at 3400' we headed up the trail to Peggy’s pond around 7:30 -8 am. The trail at quite a nice grade so we made some good time up to Squaw lake at 4400'. From there the trail steepened a bit till you reach a beautiful meadow with tarns and flowers in full bloom.

Moving on we reached and intersection with PCT trail staying to the left taking the PCT trail (.3)to the intersection of the climbers track on the right. The trail traverses the steep southwest slope of Cathedral Rock. The views from here are great. You look down onto Deep lake and the valley below. After .7 miles of the traverse we reached a small lake. At this point we are 5.5 miles into the hike to gain the SE ridge. Another 2.5 miles to go to reach the summit. By this time the sun was doing its job and warming things up quickly.

We decided to not take the trail to Peggy’s pond which is the standard route and trail to the ridge. Instead we bushwhacked our way up a small ridge and found the climbers tracks from there. It just added a bit more fun and route finding to the trip.

Once at the base of the ridge there are so many choices of which way to go from here. We decided to just head strait up till we could see our route. There are many little climber and goat tracks weaving through the area. Once we reached the top of the ridge we took a break and took in the

views. The views from here are spectacular. It was getting quite hot out by now. The sun was intense. Time to Lather up in sun screenContinuing up the ridge narrows and there are a few class 3 sections but I would say most of it is class 2 with an easy to fallow climbers track.

The views down to Circle lake are sweet. From here we stayed on the ridge that takes a turn to the north to the base of the East peak. The maps show this as the main summit, but surprise! It is not for another mile and a half or so. I was starting to loose count of the lakes we could see form the ridge. Now I really see why the call it ‘Alpine Lake wilderness’ alpine lakes everywhere. At this point we could drop down to the north side of the ridge and traverse the perennial snow field or stay atop the ridge and climb up and over. We decided to stay on the ridge because we did not have crampons or ice axe with us and the surface was still hard and icy due to northern exposure and the nights freeze.

The route gets a bit steeper and we stayed to the left and scramble some class three gender arms . Fun stuff! Then dropped down to a saddle. From here you can take the west side traverse of the east peak through scree or scramble up and over the east peak Class 3/4. We wanted to save some time so we just dropped down into the traverse. The climbers track is very narrow but easily fallowed. The scree is small and very loose. Lots of sliding with each step eeeek! Slip here and it would not be a fun ride!

We reached another saddle and scrambled up a steep class 3 ridge of large boulders. Once at the top you can finally see the true summit for the first time. From here the climbers track is easy to fallow and took us along the ridge through a small snow field to the base of the class three summit block at 7960'. Fun summit block to play around on!

Eight miles to the summit and 2.5- 3 of it is climbing the ridge with some amazing views of the area. The views are some of the best I have seen in the alpine lake area (so far )we could see all the way to Rainier, and Baker. Looking down on Pea soup lake was nice. The Lynch glacier had many crevasses opened up because of the low snow pack but it was still good and climbable. The temp had to be close to the 80s even up this high. It was damn HOT!

After a very long break (2hrs)in some shade and chatting with some great guys who were camping just below the summit on a small snow field we headed out. We decided to do a figure 8. Instead of staying on the ridge we dropped down onto the glacier to gain the saddle between middle and east peak.

After traversing the nasty scree to the saddle at the base of the east we decided to take the perennial snowfield we didn’t take on the way up. The snow had softened and it would cut some time off the descent. The rest of the trip was great. The sun was getting lower, it was getting cooler and the lakes were showing some great color. We reached the TH just before dark. Jeff headed home and I headed to find a road side camp because I had plans to hike up Alta the next day Alta TR.

This climb was one of the favorites of the season mainly because of the non-stop ridge. I found a nice present on my windshield from the FS cops. A ticket saying my NW forest pass was expired. I was like “what! I just bought the thing in March and this is July! %$#^%$#^%$” Come to find out the guy at REI punched the wrong # on the pass. We took the pass back and they gave us a new one for free and stamped it so we got an extra 6 months free. We didn’t have to pay the ticket and got a free six months out o fit . Not bad in my book.

What a great climb! I will be back to do the Lynch Glacier route sometime

Notes

- 16 miles RT - a long day
- 5200' Acc. elevation gain
- No ice axe or crampons needed this late in the season. My husband Dan
was up there 3weeks before me and needed his crampons and axe.
- No water available after Peggy’s pond except old dirty tarns and dirty
snow or ice.
- There is not much shade to be found on the ridge either.
- Great camp spot just below the summit!

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Viewing: 1-13 of 13

EastKing

Great Trip Report

Voted 10/10

I am planning on doing this mountain as a warm up for when I go climbing Mt. Baker. I plan on climbing Mount Baker on September 4th with Mountain Madness and this mountain either August 24th or the 25th. This trip report will help me greatly in my plans. Great trip report with great pics.

Posted Mar 13, 2006 8:42 am


	tazz	Re: Great Trip Report
	Hasn't voted	Thanks! you will enjoy Daniel. You can do it in one long day or an overnighter. plenty of places to camp around Peggy's pond or up higher on the ridge. You will enjoy the area and the mountain. Good luck on Baker and whatever else you hit while you are here. :)
		Posted Mar 14, 2006 3:37 am

Sajama

Interesting

Voted 10/10

Interesting area, beautiful lagoons and excelent images.

Posted Mar 13, 2006 10:01 am


	tazz	Re: Interesting
	Hasn't voted	Thanks, The Alpine Lakes area is loaded with beautiful lakes and peaks. A must see if in the region.
		Posted Mar 14, 2006 3:31 am

Dean

One of my favorites.

Voted 10/10

I did this one back in Oct of 2003 with Bob Bolton and Bill Jacobs. We hit a perfect October day and it was just outstanding except for the haze created by the Crystal Creek fire. I really enjoyed your trip report, it brought back some good memories.

Posted Mar 15, 2006 2:27 am


	tazz	Re: One of my favorites.
	Hasn't voted	One of the things I remeber most about the climb is coming down the section of rock and seeing how far it was to the 'true' summit. I just looked at the sun and felt the sweat dripping, stinging my eyes and said "that far arrrgh" LOL. It was such a great ridge and beautiful area that the sweat and sun was easy to ignore though. I found something new lakes, peaks, glaciers,and flowers to see around each section of the climb. One of the top 10 of all climbs ever. Thank again Dean :)
		Posted Mar 15, 2006 6:11 am


	Dean	Re: One of my favorites.
	Voted 10/10	I'd have to put it in my top ten as well. The scenery on that one is amazing. I've spent time in Tuck / Robin and did the same thing you did, I looked over at Mt. Daniel and said, "I've gotta do that mountain" Hmmm, my other top ten: 1. Mt Shasta (racing a storm) 2. Dayhiking Mt Whitney 3. Charleston Peak (Bristlecone forest) 4. Mt Daniel 5. Ruby Dome (terrific hike near elko) 6. Enchantment trips (a ton of them) 7. So. Sister (the killer view) 8. dayhiking Mt. Adams (a real test at that time for me) 9. Mt Hood (unplanned solo thanks to perfect snow conditions) 10. Mt. Thielsen (Bob got me to go past my comfort zone) There you have my top ten. I think that would make a good topic for SP or NWHikers. What are yours?
		Posted Mar 15, 2006 6:23 am


	tazz	Re: One of my favorites.
	Hasn't voted	oh boy made me think on that one :)I love all the mountains I climb/hike so it is hard to pick top ten. Now top five is easy it is the other 5 hehehe. Hmmm lets see.... 1. West Mac Spire- just awesome! 2. Clark- fresh snow of the season made for some sketch sections. 3. Sloan- epic just epic I believe you read the tr lol 4. Ruth- broke crampon in the middle and steepest part of the glacier. very icy and needed them. had to rig half a crampon to my foot lol 5. Borah- all around great climb 6. Old Snowy and Ives- did this via the nasty class 3 ridge between the two peaks. Had to drop into a 15-20 ' moat. right side on rock and left side one ice with ice axe no crampons. Up a class 4 - 45 degree loose scree and rock gully with open crevasses below. puker factor high there hehe 7. Daniel- love the place. This year want to do Hinman its next door neighbor. 8. Elbert- getting to the top and looking over at the beauty of the Colorado Rockies 9. Elenore- winter camp in a snow cave and had the best sunrise I have ever seen. 10. Katadin- cause I have to pick a peak on the east coast and this one is the best the east coast has. Knife edge rocks! oh and # 11 would be Aix- cause great group of peeps and a perfect day for a hike! :) Whew it was hard to leave other good climbs out but these are the best. I am sure that list will change as I continue climbing hehehe. Thanks for the memories that I have not thought of for a while! When I heal from surgery, we should all get together again for another peak this spring! edit- now you have me thinking LOL I think I would replace Elenore with the Wonderland trail. I know it is not a peak but we did gain 29,000' feet in 94 miles and it was one of the best trip my husband and I have ever done together. What a trail!
		Posted Mar 16, 2006 12:54 am

vancouver islander

Great report

Voted 10/10

...informative and useful since Mt Dan is on my 2006 list. Wonderful photos too. Such clarity. What camera are you using?

Posted Mar 24, 2006 5:47 am


	tazz	Re: Great report
	Hasn't voted	Thank! You will love the climb, We hit it just right for the wildflowers in full bloom on the ridge too. It was a perfect day. I use a Nikon coolpix E4100. I bought it for its size and wieght 1st. Then the clarity and functions are great too. 3-4 shots are my husbands (I think I labeled them) he uses a heavy ass pentax 35mm with many heavy lenses and gear...yuck :). I like my ity bitty coolpix. It is so light and compact and is digital so I can take many shots and don't have to deal with yucky film. Perfect for climbing. I plan on getting a better one once I kill this one which might be soon. I have already broke parts of it. I didn't have a case for most of the season. It went swimming on this trip up Sloan and been dropped and slammed several times on rocks. Now I have a case and it is happy hehe. Good luck on the climb. It is a beautiful area! Thanks again!
		Posted Mar 25, 2006 3:41 am

mbgriffi

Snow...

Hasn't voted

Any idea/guess what the snow will be at the end of the forest road? (3300 feet) on Jun 9th? What about the "trail" up there to Peggy's Pond?

Thanks
mbg

Posted May 31, 2006 5:32 am

DDvO

Minor correction

Hasn't voted

Tuequala Meadows -> Tucquala Meadows

Posted Aug 7, 2007 4:27 pm


	tazz	Re: Minor correction
	Hasn't voted	thankyou!
		Posted Aug 11, 2007 12:06 pm

Viewing: 1-13 of 13