On Tuesday I headed out for a day trip up Mount Daniel with Emma. The weather was perfect, the company was great, and the entire day was awesome.
We generally followed the SE Ridge route as described here (Side note: there are some cool new features on summitpost.org – love the new interactive maps!)
It seems that the route is a bit more “scrambly” this year due to the low snow levels. So although we didn’t need ice axes or crampons, we did spend a lot of time on loose messy rock. Mainly just class 2/3, but we paused a couple times to think carefully about our next move.
That said, even the sketchiest looking sections actually weren’t that bad once you got up close. If our trip were an afterschool special, at the end we would look directly at the camera, smile, and say “Just goes to show, you never know until you try!”
Photo dump below. Thank you Emma for a great day in the mountains! Looking forward to the next one!
We camped at the trailhead the night before. Beautiful moon and clouds (Emma’s photo).Emma admiring Mt Stuart in the early morning lightStopping for water at a creek near Peggy’s Pond (Emma’s photo)Pretty little tarn on the east flank of DanielFull speed ahead (still early in the day, obviously)! (Emma’s photo)The Citadel towering over Circle Lake, with Rainier lurking in the background.Looking down the east side of Daniel. SE ridge is on the right, with Cathedral Rock just behind that. You can also see the triangular peak of Mt Stuart in the far upper right corner.This is what happens when you hang out in the mountains with a geologist. She randomly picks up giant pieces of rock and starts lecturing you (in the best way possible).East Peak of Daniel as seen from the SE Ridge (West peak, aka true summit, still hidden out of sight)Rock ptarmigan who looked at us quizzically, and then joined us on the trail for a couple minutes before scampering off.Classic photo of Venus and Spade lakes. Someone else’s version of this photo is what initially drew me to Daniel.Emma skirting the edge of the Daniel Glacier.Easy class 3 scramble up the final spire (Emma’s photo)We made it! West Summit of Daniel. Good times.Summit shot of EmmaPeasoup Lake as seen from the summitMount HinmanThe Skykomish Valley, with Baring Mountain leaning back on the right, and the triple peaks of Index just barely visible on the left.From front to back: Bears Breast, Summit Chief, Chimney, and Overcoat (someone correct me if I’m wrong).Descending back along the SE Ridge (Emma’s photo)Venus Lake, no filter.The Citadel and RainierHeaded down to Peggy’s Pond, with Cathedral Rock looming in the background.Squaw Lake – almost back to the trailhead!
Evergreen Endurance Coaching 