alpenator

Pugh's a great hike, with about a mile of vertical gain. I've been up it a bunch of times, in all kinds of conditions. This time of year it's snow-free on the trail (I had a great view of it last weekend from Sperry and Vesper). The route's just a comfy walk to the lake (other than navigating the usual blown-down trees), and then a big pull up switchbacks to the basin with all the talus. From there it's a steep trail to Stujack Pass, and from there the fun really begins. There's still another 1,500' or so to the summit, but on a clear day it's all views. Be sure to check out the old A-frame winch along the ridge. It was used for the old look-out tower, which by the way, still has remnants on the summit. A couple of years ago I was headed up the switchbacks to Stujack with a couple of friends, and we were moving OK but not too fast, since we had a bunch of climbing gear (we were going exploring--but that's a different story). When we were about half-way up, I looked down and noticed a guy coming up the talus field at quite a clip. He continued up to us in a hurry and breezed by at a near jog, and I noticed he had a small pack, black compression shorts, black boots, and a floppy jungle-camo hat, none of which is anything strange, but he also had a long walking staff that he was carrying horizontally--it never touched the ground. There was something in the way he moved it around that seemed odd, so an hour or so later, when we were up on the ridge having lunch, I watched him coming back down from the summit, and he was still carrying the staff the same way. He was still moving very quickly, and I'm sure he simply tagged the summit before heading back down. Well, he came by us again, but this time stopped when one of my friends said something, trying to be friendly. It was at that point it all made sense: I noticed his "Ranger" tatoo on his calf, right above his boot. When my friend joked to him that if he hurried, he could probably still get up and down Pilchuck before dark, his humorless response was, "Yes, I probably will." And then he was off, still deftly toting his surrogate rifle. (I don't think I would want to be a Taliban soldier on the other end of his real M-4.) It's always something new and different in the mountains, eh? Have fun.

Went up the south side last weekend. No snow on the route. Nada. (Well, maybe one tiny patch) The only use for my axe was to hold the headlamp for a romantic, late dinner with my GF at camp at Lena Forks. Lots of bugs, though--all the way up.