Wednesday - Saturday (July 23 - 26th, 2008)
Mark will already be at Waptus Lake on a 50 miler with the scouts from his local ward. Those joining him will drop off a car at Cathedral Rock trailhead and then ride to Cooper Lake with other adult leaders for the 50 miler. Hike together from Cooper Lake up over Waptus Pass to the east end of Waptus Lake.
The fun begins. Not a lot of distance this day, but a steep climb on a "trail" up to Spade Lake, full of deadfall etc. Spade Lake is one of the most remote lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness (13 miles from a road).
Here there are no routes, need to consult Becky's guides, pictures and we'll have to have route finding skills. Ice Axes will be necessary, and possibly light crampons. (I can borrow many pair if need be).
Depending on where we get to on Friday, we'll either summit Mt. Daniel early Saturday or we'll have done it Friday. Downhill all day, past Cathedral Rock, past Peggys Pond and Squaw Lake to the Cathedral Rock trailhead.
Distance and Profile from Cooper Lake to Cathedral Rock trialhead
Profilie
Becky : From Venus Lake's W side ascend the S slope of Daniel; keep right of a ridge with a western face and left of low cliffs above the lake (between 6,000 and 6,600 feet) On the upper half of hte spure one may find snow. Follow along the spur to the true summit or via the slight depression to its right.
Dayhike Mike : Once you hit Venus, you'll rise to a saddle on the left. There's a small tarn up on that saddle. From there, the downclimbing might be a little interesting, but it's a short stretch -- maybe 25-30 feet. The traverse across (north) from there is pretty steep but the idea is to sweep wide north until you can breach the black cliff bands. Just keep going, you'll find a way. Once you're above the black cliff bands, it's a pretty easy route up loose/unconsolidated smaller rock to reach the top of the rib. We used the chute at the end of the rib, right before it starts cliffing off. No real exposure, not terribly steep, but it'll be interesting to see how it goes as it is pretty loose.
Delicious : http://del.icio.us/mbgriffi/spadelake