[TR] Mt. Daniel- Daniel Glacier 8/14/2005

[kurthicks]

Climb: Mt. Daniel-Daniel Glacier

 

Date of Climb: 8/14/2005

 

Trip Report:

Not a lot to report, just conditions mostly...No pictures though, my camera decided to stay at home.

 

Daniel has been on my list for a while as an aesthetic easy route--suitable for girlfriends according to Juan. So we (my girlfriend and I) headed in Saturday afternoon, keen on camping at Peggy's Pond (beautiful, BTW), but terrible blisters ensued and we ended up camping just east of Cathedral Pass. Yesterday I did the route round trip in 4.5 hours from our camp including a climb of the east ridge spire and finding the old airplane engine above the Hyas Creek Glacier. anyone know the history on this?

 

The Hyas Creek Glacier is nearly gone (but has left some cool bivy sites) and one can avoid snow all the way to the Daniel. The Daniel itself is melting quickly too, but is in good shape with about 6-12" of seasonal snow remaining on it's upper flanks. There are a couple easily passed crevasses too. The "headwall" that leads to the middle summit is separated from the glacier by about 30' of talus. The headwall itself seemed steeper than 35 degrees, but that could have been the solo factor kicking in. From there, the trail leads to the top. I found all the usual suspects there: Stuart, Dome, Eldo, Glacier, Rainier...

 

There was a party of 4 that climbed the route too, maybe they're cc'ers and will post some pics. Good route, but a little short.

 

Gear Notes:

Aluminum crampons

ice axe

 

Approach Notes:

buggy