Mon Dec 08, 2008 2:00 am Mt. Daniel, 11/29 – 11/30/08
Dates: November 29-30, 2008
Destination: Mt. Daniel
Party: Dicey, Yana, Heather M, Gabriel D, Matt
Who’d have thought you could drive to the Cathedral Rock trailhead at the end of November?
But there was less than a foot of snow on the road, and barely a few feet of snow all the way up on the highest parts of Daniel.
Snowpack for the trip was much more like late spring than early winter - varying from minor slush to deep enough for snowshoes. The snowshoes went on or off at least eight times between trailhead and summit.
Clouds both obscured and enhanced the view – hiding the peaks from below, but highlighting the dark summits between bands of bright white up high. Overhead, gray drizzle turned to clear blue and then back again, timed just right to match our summit visit.
Lakes slowly conceded to the winter cold – the big lakes still mostly open water, but the smaller tarns reduced to shrinking patches of ice amid the encroaching snow. In between, the transition crafted complex swirls of ice and snow across the water’s surfaces.
Saturday: Cathedral Rock Trailhead to Peggy’s Pond
We didn’t need our snowshoes till we were above Squaw Lake. Some places under the trees, the ground was still almost bare.
Out in the open, we began getting views of Cathedral Rock, with a rainbow coming across the valley right onto the rock. Or maybe being cast upward by the rock out across the valley.
Deep Lake had intricate swirling patterns of snow, ice, and open water, reflecting mountain slopes on the icy parts and glaring sunlight on the melted parts.
The only tricky part was traversing the steep slope below Cathedral Rock, with a mix of frozen ground, shallow snow, and wet rock to challenge our traction.
Peggy’s Pond had solid gray ice, with some widening ovals of snow accumulating on its surface.
After setting up camp, I wandered around to look at the little tarns in the area. Several had become just a small contracting circle of blue or gray ice left open at the center of an expanding rim of snow.
The day was short. It was a dark and drizzly night.
Stats: TH 3360, Squaw lake 4841, Peggy’s Pond 5590.
5.5 miles, 2500 cumulative gain, 6 hours.
Sunday: Daniel via SE Ridge & East Bowl
It rained for the next eight hours. But this time of year, that’s only half the night! Sometime after midnight, the patter of raindrops ceased. While we made breakfast before dawn, the skies were clearing.
We began hiking up the SE ridge with sunrise spreading an orange band below the eastern clouds.
The east summit of Daniel emerged from the clouds.
Behind us, Cathedral Rock and Stuart played hide and seek among the clouds.
Bands of fog and cloud made the summits really stand out, separating and stacking each layer of terrain.
Circle Lake came into view. Looks like some of the ice sheets have been drifting on the surface.
We had been hiking on the ridge crest, but beyond Point 7020 the ridge became thin snow over frozen rubble, so we got off into Daniel’s east basin.
Venus & Spade came into view. Venus Lake had only a thin film of clear ice, and Spade Lake appeared ice-free. Volcanoes hovered on the horizon above them.
We made such good progress up the snow that we went too far and ended up at the east summit. But we didn’t want to be on East Daniel. We needed to have traversed westward off the ridge lower down. And we were eating up a short supply of daylight.
It looked like we might not have time to finish, but we decided to see how much farther we could get before our turn-around time. High in the mountains, I’d much rather keep traveling and experience more of the place, especially on such a beautiful day, even if we don’t reach the summit.
So we backtracked downhill to where we could cross onto the west side of the ridge, and traverse across the loose rubble to the East-Middle Daniel Col. From there, progress went surprisingly fast on easy terrain past Middle Daniel and on to West Daniel, the highest summit.
Pea Soup came into view, looking more like navy blue soup.
The scramble to West Daniel was easy. Views were wide and sunny.
We trotted back down to the east summit and followed the beaten track back to the col just north of Point 7662.
Rather than use the ridge, we hiked down the snowy bowl all the way to camp, staying toward the south side for a few steep parts.
Stats for Daniel Ascent:
Peggy’s Pond 5590, East Daniel 7899, East-Middle Col 7620, Daniel 7960.
Round trip 5 miles, 2800 cumulative gain, 6:30 hours.
Sunday: Exit Hike
At our camp, I discovered that I had left a cup of tea unfinished from breakfast. Mmm, iced tea to sip while I packed.
The snow had become softer and wetter. Where we had hiked across frozen tarns on the way in, our snowshoe tracks floated amid slushy snow and wet ice.
Then it was back down the trail to the cars, using headlamps for the last thousand feet or so.
Exit stats: 5.5 miles, 250 gain, 3 hours.
Total trip: 16 miles, 5500 gain.
Daniel
While I was on the summit of Mt. Daniel, I couldn’t help thinking about my son Daniel. Mt. Daniel is an impressive mountain, and it was a beautiful scenic day for a climb, but it pales to insignificance next to the pride I take in Daniel, and the rewards I have experienced in raising him. At thirteen years old, it is sometimes a rude and rough journey, but shining through the teenage turbulence is the maturing shape of the fine young man he’s becoming - a caring heart that doesn’t hesitate to help others, a creative mind full of imagination and enthusiasm, and a distinct personality unafraid to express himself. It was wonderful knowing him as a child, and I look forward to discovering the adult that he will become, while we work our way through the challenges of these years in between.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 800 | TRs | Pics Location: The Quah
Mon Dec 08, 2008 2:35 am
Another entertaining read with great photos Matt. Especially liked "Hiking Above It All"
-------------- "Forest 101: These big wood stick things are called trees. The big rocks are called mountains, and the little rocks are their babies." Elliott from Open Season
Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 1882 | TRs | Pics Location: Round the Bend
Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:14 am Re: Mt. Daniel, 11/29 – 11/30/08
Matt wrote:
It's always a wonderful feeling to poke your head out of the tent and find clearing skies and a beautiful sunrise. Glad the views opened up in time for your summit traverse.
A trip to Daniels in December, unreal without snowshoes and stopping due to leg ache much lower. Daniel looks older than 13, looks ready for Mount Daniels in better conditions.
I always wanted to see a trip report of Danielle in December and now I have. It looks like snow shoes are a must for the climb although I would think that crampons would be used more, am I wrong?
I'd always bring both snowshoes and crampons in winter. Which one you need depends on conditions. This year there was exceptionally little snow, and we could mostly boot up, more like spring conditions. Usually, early in the winter like this, you'd have unconsolidated snow and have to use snowshoes. I've also known people who went the whole way on crampons later in winter on top of a hard crust.
Also, if there were normal snow depths, avalanche danger would require careful evaluation.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
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