Mount Pugh — Saturday, Jul. 8, 2017

We got there a little before 9 AM and there were probably 10 other cars there. The wooded part of the trail was an easy walk and bugs were surprisingly not that bad. Once we broke out of the woods and started up towards the saddle, we heard what we thought was a hornet nest, but nobody was bit. After the saddle, which had amazing views in both directions, the trail got a little hairy for a minute. We decided to stay on the snow field on the way up because we all had traction (I had crampons and the two guys I was with had spikes) and poles. On the way down, I decided to try without crampons and ended up sliding down a bit of the snow. I was able to self arrest, but I got moving pretty quickly. If you have to go over the snow, I'd definitely recommend having the right equipment. We also saw a group dodging this snow field by staying to the right of it. It looked possible, but pretty unpleasant. After the first snow field, there was one more, but it was easily avoided by just keeping to the left. After that, the trail was in great shape. The summit requires some minor scrambling up some rocks, though, so be prepared for that. The view at the top was spectacular, but that's when the bugs showed up. They weren't biting or anything but were a little annoying.

Overall, a great day hike with some of the best views I've seen in Washington. Just be ready to work and be prepared in case of a snow field (they can't survive there much longer though).