I ended up getting a free day off work rather unexpectedly, so I decided to try and tackle this one. I had heard about it from my grandmother, who has been up Pugh 3 times. I decided to go it alone since I knew most of my friends would not appreciate gaining a vertical mile.
Set out from the TH at about 8, only a couple others had set out before me. The first half o more of the trail is really very uneventful, but by the time you walk it on the way back you will be thankful for the smooth and even grade in this section. The lake is about halfway between the trailhead and the bottom of Stujack Pass.
Once at the top of the pass, make sure you take a good rest and take in the views. I figured I would just keep it up, as I had to be almost there... wrong. The section between the pass and the summit is hard, and goes over some maybe class 2 scrambling in one section.
The summit was worth it though, with the only view of Glacier Peak on the whole trip. Also great views west of Three Fingers and Whitehorse, south to the mountain loop highway and Sloan Peak, and north to White Chuck and Mount Baker. Do yourself a favor and look south over the amazing cliffs along the ridge. Stayed for 3 hours (wow) and headed back down. The trip down is long.
3:00 up, 2:15 down
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