Trip type: scramble
Special gear: ice axe
Elevation gain: approx. 5,135 feet
Car-to-car time: 10 hours 19 minutes
USGS quads: White Chuck Mountain, Pugh Mountain
In area: Monte Cristo
Trip Organizer: The Mountaineers Scrambling Committee
This peak has a trail all the way to the top, originally built to access a lookout that used to be on the peak. The trail is hiker-friendly to the start of the ridge past Stujack Pass. On the ridge the trail becomes somewhat scrambly and a bit exposed at times. Views on the ridge are awesome, particularly surprising to me were the views of the summit which sprang into sight fully formed when we turned a corner. We're climbing that? But the trail (built in part by dynamite) wends its way up and around the summit in a somewhat trail-like way.
The summit had awesome views, Mount Rainier to the south, Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan to the north, up-front views of Glacier Peak and Sloan Peak, White Chuck Mountain looking impressive to the north, and a host of other peaks. It was a wonderful summit to spend a leisurely hour in the sun.
References
- Book: 75 Scrambles in Washington: Classic Routes to the Summits
- Book: Climbing Washington's Mountains
Maps
- USGS quad: Pugh Mountain
- USGS quad: White Chuck Mountain
Travel Times
Car-to-car time: 10 hours 19 minutes- 1 hour 25 minutes driving there from Lower Queene Anne to Darrington Ranger Station
- 30 minutes driving there from Darrington Ranger Station to trailhead
- 4 hours 50 minutes ascending from trailhead to Pugh Mountain summit
- 4 hours 24 minutes descending from Pugh Mountain summit to trailhead
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