Elain hiking up towards Mount Daniel
Our objective was Mount Daniel via the Daniel Glacier as a day outing. We slept in the Jeep at the Cathedral Pass trailhead in order to get an early start, and started hiking at 4:30 AM. We arrived at Peggy's Pond at about 8 AM and took a break to get some water and change into boots. We followed a foot path through a talus field and then made our way up some easy slabs to the Hyas Glacier in the basin below Daniel. From there Nelson suggests taking "steep snow slopes towards the East Peak." We saw a gully that is likely snow-filled in early season, but since it was August, there was no snow. We ascended an open scree slope to the climber's right of the gully, to about 6600', before getting stymied by very loose third-class about half way up. We were hoping to try Steve out on some easy scrambling on this trip, but hadn't expected the rock to be quite so loose and chossy (yes, we were in the Cascades in August and we should have expected this). We cramponed to the head of the Hyas glacier and took a look at somewhat cleaner-looking slabs above, but nothing seemed appealing. In the end, we decided that it just didn't feel right to either of us to be taking a chance on Steve slipping and taking a fall (after the accident on R&D we were keenly aware of the consequences of pushing too fast after an injury). Steve's doctors had cleared him for backpacking, but his femur fracture was not fully healed and he should not be doing activities that might result in a fall. So we began a slow descent to Peggy's Pond and then to the trailhead, arriving at the Jeep around 5 PM. We later learned of a hiker's trail from Peggy's Pond that ascends the left ridge of the basin via a way trail. It would have been a round-about way for us to access the Daniel glacier, but the best option for us at the time. We were a little disappointed at having turned around when an easy alternative existed, but we enjoyed a nice hike and got in a decent workout for Steve's ankle and hip. We'll go back someday - maybe earlier season when we can crampon directly up the snow gully to access the glacier.
Elain hiking up towards Mount Daniel
Looking up the Hyas Creek basin toward the East Peak
Cathedral Rock, as seen from the slopes above Peggy's Pond