Mount Pugh is new to me. 5300' gain 11 miles RT. The first 1.5 mile is easy. We were going fairly slowly, the ladies were chatty. Arrived at Lake Maten in an hour. Not a pretty lake, but does have a view of our destination through trees. Snack/bio break. No more water above the lake.
Turn left here and more switchbacks. Another 1.5 hours of moderate pace later, we finally broke out of the trees ~4900' (3000' above TH). Sat on the big boulder and waited for Tina, a small British nurse. Great view of Stujack Pass.
The trail goes on the boulders to the right of the slope. I opened my umbrella. Then zigzag through endless flowers. All along great view of the mountains across Sauk River valley. This upper slope is be my favorite stretch. We were talking photos, so also going slowly. At the pass, we waited for Tina again.
Turn right (E), past Glacier Peak Wilderness boundary sign, going through some heather meadows (however heather was past prime), then on a ridge, fairly narrow, but great view. Then some scramble. Xuan and I went ahead, waiting for the rest at difficult points. Nothing is really dangerous. The rocks are quite solid, and there's a trail most of the way, or cairns. We all put on helmet as Justin suggested earlier. Yes, I folded my umbrella.
I didn't reach the summit until 2:08pm. Elyse and her boyfriend arrived a minute later. They started at 10:45am. Boy, there was quite a crowd on the surprisingly flat top. Remnant of the old lookout. We were give an hour here to relax. Calm, very pleasant temperature. Oh, yes, I was perfectly happy sitting under my umbrella, with boots off, socks venting on a rock. Lend it to Manju for bio break.
I went down ahead of the rest. Xuan and Tina were closely behind. They had no trouble finding good routes, except for this one. Once I directed them down, we waited for the rest. Then we went ahead again. The rest of the ladies were very slow. Justin looked after them. Xuan and I waited at the big boulder below Stujack Pass before the forest, in the shade. The boulder field was hot. Tina went ahead to the car. By the time the last person arrived, it was past 7pm. I returned Justin's water bottle without using it.Thankfully, we only to stopped for gas and bathroom. Got to P&R shortly after 9pm. I filled gas before going home. Need to return the car the next morning.
Total today ~38K steps, 0 bug bite. Overall, only ~5 minute scramble, the long ridge walk is nice. Nothing dangerous, except when icy.
