Mount Daniel - King Co Highpoint, Cascade Range, Washington

Better late than never. Here is a quick entry on a climb of Mount Daniel near Seattle, Washington, that I completed last July. 

My brother Troy and his wife Carmenza were gracious enough to have me and the family stay with them in their Maple Valley home for several days. We had a fantastic time visiting the beach, Olympic National Park, downtown Seattle, and Mt. Rainier National Park. Being a stone's throw from the Cascades, I wasn't going to blow an opportunity to summit one of the many mighty peaks near Seattle. After some research, 7960-foot Mount Daniel checked all the boxes: close to Maple Valley, challenging--but doable in one day, ropes and glacier gear not required (this time of year anyway), and judging from the pictures I'd seen, incredibly scenic!

After a 5 am start, I was at the trail head adjacent to the Cle Elum River and jogging up the trail by 7.

View from the bridge over the Cle Elum River.

Mount Daniel is the crown jewel of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, and living up to its name, there are a lot of lakes--perhaps too many to name. This is a small unnamed lake southeast of  Cathedral Rock. That's Granite Mountain in the distance.

Passing Cathedral Rock en route to Mount Daniel.

Upper Spinola Creek where it spills out of Circle Lake (out of view). The high peak is unnamed, but located just west of Circle Lake.

First view of Peggy's Lake with Mount Daniel's East Ridge in the background. Peggy's Lake is commonly used as a base camp for climbers electing to climb Mount Daniel in 2 days.

Peggy's Lake below Cathedral Rock.

You climb a short segment of the infamous PCT on the way to Mount Daniel.

Glacial striations on Mount Daniel's southeast ridge.

Circle Lake from Mount Daniel's southeast ridge.

View of the scramble route up the southeast ridge. Mount Daniel's true summit is behind the high point seen here which is East Peak.

Three mountaineers traverse the upper Hyas Creek Glacier below the east ridge. These guys had full-on glacier gear and were moving slow (no diss on being careful). My scramble route stayed on the ridge above. I was moving quickly and easily caught up to them at the saddle just below East Peak. They were a bit surprised to see me, and were even more surprised that I was only wearing shorts,  t-shirt, and running shoes.

Near the summit, I had nice views all the way to Mount Rainier 55 miles away.

The southeast ridge route is a little sketchy in places, but if you are careful with your footing and hand holds, it's not bad. 

Venus (closest) and Spade Lakes from near the summit of Mount Daniel.

Look closely and you may see the final route that traverses low across the left (southwest) flank of East Peak (peak closest to the camera).  The two rocky summits in the background are the Middle Summit (right) and the true Mount Daniel high point on the left. The sketchiest part of the climb is where the route cuts across a snow field that is at about a 45-degree angle. One slip here and you'd probably end up in Venus Lake some 2000 feet below. With microspikes, a was able to stick to the snow like glue and I had no issues.

View down the Lynch Glacier to a Lynch Lake from near the summit of Mount Daniel.

Enjoying the views of the Lakes Alpine Wilderness Area and Mount Rainier from the summit of Mount Daniel.

I summitted by 12:30 pm for a 4.5 hour ascent time. I was back at the trail head by 4 pm, completing the 15-mile and nearly 6000-foot climb in just under 8 hours. This was the perfect hike for my time constraints, and views were better than advertised.

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The Tushars, Crushed

A quick report from a marathon excursion into Utah's Tushar Mountains last July (2017). At over 12,000 feet, the Tushars are the highest mountain range in southwestern Utah, and they are the third highest range in all of Utah. They are, of course amazingly beautiful, and lucky for me, are only an hour away from my home. They have become well known to cyclists in recent years due to the emergence of the popular Tushar Crusher bike race that is held here annually. I'd like to throw my wheel into the ring one of these years (by all accounts it is an excellent race), but, I've completed so many self-supported, solo adventures in the Tushars, I've had a hard time putting up the cash to ride with a couple of hundred other people.

Anyhow, here is my personal Tushar Crusher which I completed 1 day before the official race.

Similar to the real Tushar Crusher race, I started my climb in the heart of Beaver at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 153. Here, I'm a few miles in, near the mouth of Beaver Canyon.

There are a few narrow spots in Beaver Canyon where the highway and river leave little room for much of a road shoulder. Lucky for me, there wasn't much traffic on a Friday morning.

After 10 miles of pavement, the race route forks right onto a graded dirt road that passes Kent's Lake and a few other small reservoirs. It is pretty country that reminds me a lot of the Uintah Mountains in northeastern Utah.

This intersection on the range summit is key on the race course. Racers head east and drop down to the town of Junction before climbing back up to this same junction. Racers then head north along the summit ridge to the  finish at the top of the Eagle Mountain ski resort. I skipped the trip down to Junction and headed straight to the resort.

My first views of the Tushars' highest peaks. Thunderstorms like to linger here and the dark skies were a bit worrisome. Exactly 3 weeks after my Tushar climb, 2 girls were struck by lightning near this very spot (Big Flat). They were knocked unconscious and were alone save their family dog which ran 2 miles back to camp to alert family. The dog led family members to the girls and they were soon airlifted to a local hospital. As far as I know they both survived.

Highway 153 summit near Puffer Lake.

The last mile to the race finish is a doozy with 10-11% grades.

Eagle Point Resort's Skyline Lodge marks the end of the race and the road. From here there is a bit of new singletrack that will lead you to the top resort boundary. 

Hidden cabin near the top of Eagle Mountain Resort.

From the resort boundary at about 10,500 feet, it was time to switch shoes and keep trucking upward toward the top.

My favorite parts of the Tushars are where you get above the tree line and the terrain looks nothing like the rest of Utah.

Looking north from Delano Peak to Mount Baldy (left) and Belknap (right).

Aside from a little rumbling in the distance, the thunderstorm never really fully developed and I never did see any rain drops.

This was my 3rd ascent of Delano Peak over the years, and I doubt it will be my last.  I'm already scheming another personal Tushar Crusher for next summer.

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Laughlin, NV, and Hualapai Peak, AZ

An update from way back in April. After a long, cold winter, we were anxious to get a jump-start on summer, so we headed for the desert over Spring Break weekend. Although we are not in to gambling, which Laughlin is known for, we were still drawn to the place because for its favorable position in the heart of the Mojave and cheap lodging. Here are highlights of the vacation with trips to nearby Oatman, AZ, Grapevine Pass, and a solo ascent of the Hualapai Mountains, AZ.

Is it alive? Yes, it was, and it's not uncommon to find burros taking a nap, stealing food, or causing other mischief along Oatman's Main Street. I even had a burro get upset after we ran out of carrots and try to open our car door with his teeth, chipping the paint in the process. They sure are cute little buggers though.

Grapevine Canyon near Laughlin ranks up there with the Gold Butte area as one of the highest concentrations of petroglyphs I've seen. Even if there were no rock art to gawk at, the canyon is a fantastic hike with a nice spring and tons of wildlife.

A perfectly camouflaged chuckwalla at the Grapevine Canyon petroglyphs.

As usual, I got away for half a day to climb a mountain. Hualapai Peak is the highest and most interesting mountain I could find near Laughlin. At 8,417 feet, Hualapai may not sound too impressive, but like many desert peaks in the Mohave, the key is to look at the peak's prominence, or how high it is relative to the surrounding lowlands. If you consider that Hualapai Peak is nearly 6,000 feet higher than the surrounding desert, it really is a pretty tall mountain. Skipping the drive to the trailhead in Hualapai Mountain State Park, I chose to start my climb at the mouth of Sawmill Canyon down at 4,325 feet.

The approach run to the official trailhead involves 6 miles of pavement plus another mile of seldom-traveled trail. Elevation gain over this initial approach is about 2,500 feet.

Entering Hualapai Mountain Park at about mile 6.

Albert's or "tassel-eared" squirrel in Hualapai Mountain Park.

Looking for ore at the long-abandoned Silver Bell Mine near the head of Sawmill Canyon.

Stone steps along the trail to Hualapai Peak.

Rough, but runnable terrain skirting around Aspen Peak.

The final approach to Hualapai Peak requires some fun scrambling through broken granite.

View northward from the top. Hayden Peak has the radio towers and is just 27 feet shorter than Hualapai Peak.

View southward along the range crest of the Hualapai Mountains.

It took just under 4 hours to reach the summit from the mouth of Sawmill Canyon. I was back to my car in under 7 hours. Total distance and elevation gain was 22.35 miles and over 4,000 feet.

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