[ree]

This area is new to me and I lusted after it a long time. Being a birthday trip, I got to plan this trip out, the way I usually do: organically. Steve, Sandra, Eileen, Derek, and Jim were accommodating the bday girl. The general plan was to camp at Circle Lake for 2 nights, with a day hike in between to Mt. Daniel. I had looked at the shoulder on the topo and it looked doable. Then maybe head to Venus, Spade? Circumnavigate Daniel? Vicente? It's easy to get greedy. We had 4 nights, so what we did for the other two nights around there were up in the air. The route off Cathedral Pass that traverses Cathedral to Peggy's Pond is for “hikers only”. Yeah, I would not bring a horse on that trail. It was in rough shape in spots. Don't fall. It wasn't as much as a freeway trail as I thought it'd be. We were hot and dusty by the time we arrived for a break at Peggy's Pond, which was not the small pond looking thing you first see when you traverse Cathedral Rock. Peggy's Pond was a little further to the up and right. It was bigger than I imagined. Funny, I've heard about this place so much, I had a picture in my mind that was different. I heard about the bugs there. The bugs were pretty bad everywhere we went, except when the breeze kicked up.

After checking out Peggy's Pond we headed west through a draw that went west around the cliffs next to the PP tarn. The boot path we found initially dead ended in some nasty gullies, so the sooner you can ascend the ridge the better, after leaving the pond. At some point after ascending the steep hill side at the gullies, we found the ridge line and a boot path that took us straight to Circle Lake. Circle Lake has a high bank, so we wound our way to its fantastic outlet and found a nice big campsite for our tribe. What a gorgeous lake! Circle is not circle, but has a nice sculptural shoreline, with brilliant blue waters. The west shore is lined with cliff walls. We set up camp, and Steve and I broke out our rafts for a quick cruise. We had the lake to ourselves that night. Thankfully the wind kept the mozzies at bay. Steve surprised me with a bottle of champagne on snow for my birthday, which we all shared.

The next morning, we went up the rib from the lake's outlet up to the higher ridge on which is Mt. Daniel's scramble route. The off trail travel was rather pleasant. We came up heather ledges - and a not too steep or scary navigation led us fairly easily to the boot path on the ridge up to Daniel. Mt. Daniel's scramble route is very scenic and spicy in areas. Fun scrambling. The views off the glacier are wonderful. We ascended the east peak, thinking we were done early, but no. A look west showed the true summit, which of course, we had to get. The terrain was rocky and steep at first, but as we moved from the east to west summit, the terrain eased a bit. Getting across one area proved tricky when the soil was steep and loose. Views of Venus Lake and Spade came into view the further west we worked the path, which went up and over rock outcroppings. The summit was a nice big rocky block of scrambling, and it was the best was saved for the absolute last. Wonderful views of Trico, Granite, Robin Lakes, Pea Soup Lake, Lynch Glacier, Spade, Venus, Shovel, and of course all the Middle Fork mountains – Hinman, Summit Chief, Chimney, Bears Breast, Lemah, Chimney, Hibox, etc. Stuart was a mighty presence in the east. We snacked, signed the summit register and began our hike back to Circle Lake. Working our way back to Circle Lake, we came across a fellow traveling solo, wearing shorts and a very small pack. He questioned our use of helmets, and our big backpacks. When Eileen told him we wore helmets were because we were cautious, he asked if we “wore them in the city”as well. When I told him I always carried extra food and clothing, in case of emergency, he scoffed and said he “had a smart phone” in case of emergency. His attitude was pretty lame, so we didn't stick around for much conversation after that. The trip back to Circle Lake was pretty uneventful and we had a nice evening of margaritas by the shore. It was lovely, though the bugs showed up in droves when the wind died down.

The next day, we voted to get to Spade Lake for our next night. Venus Lake, while it looked nice from above, didn't seem worth working to get to... It's got some nice color, but that's about it. The shoreline looks steep and rocky and uninviting. Venus and Spade should swap names, because Spade Lake looked WAY more attractive as a destination and Venus looked like a lot of effort for little payoff. Sunday morning, Jim and Derek left to return to Seattle. Eileen set off to explore the ridge line separating Lake Vincente and Circle. The low saddle seemed easy to get to, but the going was loose gravel on steep hard pan. The rest of us struggled to follow. We abandoned that route and headed for the rocky ledges below the Citadel to get to Spade. Snow lingered on this route, but ultimately, went pretty fast and relatively easy. Getting over the ridge line was tricky. Steve went up the snow route, while us gals chose the rock/snow combo. We finally got to the ridge line above Circle all ok. Most of the drop down to Spade Lake from that point followed a straight-forward bench, winding below the Citadel. We descended ledges over scree, heather, and boulders. Then we got to the last 200 ft. to Spade Lake... and the fun really began with a nasty gully, and steep brush interspersed with short cliffs – ranging 10 to 25' high. It was very slow and easy going. Steve and Eileen broke a hand line out for us on the last descent. It was hot and duffy and branchy and dusty. All in all, it took us over 8 hours to go less than 2 miles. I took a couple nasty spills, with that one left a 5” bruise on my bum. The heat and bugs were dreadful the whole way, and we were spent by the time we staggered into camp. We found a nice large campsite near the outlet of the lake, which we quickly ran into for a godsend rinse and splash. It was beautiful there. Spade's outlet has some wonderful glacially carved rock hills near its shore. Looking across the lake were at least four waterfalls, spilling down Mt. Daniel. The terrain was so sculpted and gorgeous. Spade Lake is beautiful and has a stunning view from it.

Our route back to the car was up in the air again. Looking at the route up and over to Vincente seemed like another route finding puzzle, dodging cliffs and steep brush. It was bound to be hotter also. Given that we had to camp at Squaw Lake the next night, we could do that route... OR take the trail. I did not relish brush bashing first thing in the morning, or a long day of tedious route finding to a lake that may/may not be worth the effort, so the bday girl voted for the trail. Doing the mileage would be faster, hence less buggy. The next morning we all explored the area around Spade's outlet. The wind had died down and the waters of the lake became glassy. Steve and I had hauled our rafts ALL this way, and it seemed a shame to leave Spade without breaking them out. So Eileen and Sandra hit the trail, while Steve and I blew up our rafts for some fun on the lake. The water was great, and the further out we went, the bugs died down. We rafted to a spot where we could see our route into Spade. Yeah, I don't know how we did it. The topo looked pretty benign and suckered us into thinking it'd be easy. Steve and I left Spade about 11 am and made it to Squaw Lake by 7, where we caught up with Sandra and Eileen. Surprisingly, just about every campsite was taken on this Monday night. It was my first time in the area and it was wonderful, made even more special by sharing it with my close pals. A great birthday gift, I'd say!

[Sculpin]

Awesome trip! The bugs in that area are terrible. Even slathered in DEET they are still continually crashing into you, getting in your eyes...If camping near Peggy's Pond, there are spots down in the glacial gully just beyond that are less buggy. It is an ugly moonscape down there compared to the meadows near the Pond, but the cold air drainage off the glacier keeps the mosquitoes down to a more manageable number.

[RichP]

Gorgeous grand tour, ree.

[Bugs]

Where did you get that little raft?

[Galadriel]

Ree's birthday trips are the best! Touring the lakes, summiting Daniel, happy hour margaritas with friends, and even the route finding down to Spade made for a great time. The fish were jumping in Circle Lake at dusk. Two fisherman hiked in to cast their poles and score. Around midnight, a helicopter flew in low over Circle lake and then headed toward Daniel. We hoped it wasn't to rescue the guy with his cell phone for protection.

[GaliWalker]

Very cool! I love that area, one of my favorites.

[indyanajohns]

Awesome trip. I have always wondered if Circle is named after the circular hole in a rock wall above the north side of the lake? I have only seen the hole from below but I am guessing you can see it on the ridge walk to Daniel? This photo is from a raft near the north shore just a little past a tiny rock/island outcropping. Has anyone seen this from above?

[BarbE]

[Jetlag]

Great to hear that your birthday trip went well! Terrific concentration of wonderful lakes surrounding Daniel. That loose and steep section on the route to the summit was something I never noticed until my last trip up Daniel. Nasty! My son circumnavigated Daniel in two days this June, climbing several summits. It's amazing how much easier that area is on snow . . . but perhaps not as beautiful.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Looks like a great trip. I went from camp at Peggys Pond to Circle-Venus-Spade and back yesterday. Lounging on a slab at Spade I was eyeballing the terrain above me trying to figure out if there was a more direct route straight up and avoid going back up via Venus. Nothing looked enticing to me. You guys did miss that glorious slab between Venus and Spade though, that was a treat going down and up. The loose crap on either side of the divide between Circle and Venus (shoulder of The Citadel) is NOT fun.

[Sadie's Driver]

Great report, Deb. It is a beautiful place - not so fun when it is really hot, however!

[contour5]

[Bedivere]

[ree]

Thanks. Yeah, Suzanne it was hot and buggy. We could see the slabby stuff at the far end of Spade. It looked very interesting. Yeah, it would have been a backtrack for us I think after we got to the ridge over Citadel and Spade/Circle. I could see on our rafts the more south side that we came down, and the gully we had to cross... yikes. That whole side of the lake towards the outlet seems brushy and cliffy. I'm assuming there's a bootpath all the way on the east side of Spade to the slabby part? We camped near the outlet, but from the rafts that peninsula looked like it had some sweet spots.

[wildernessed]