Web Mountain via Putrid Pete's Peak, Mount Defiance, Ira Spring Connector Trail & Ira Spring Trail - Mason Lake — Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

The TL;DR on the Putrid Pete's Peak route to Defiance: Mind blowing views, but steep, as in lean into the mountain and use your hands steep. You should probably have some scrambling experience if you want to tackle this one.

My route was a clockwise loop, up Putrid Pete's Peak (P3), along the ridge, up to Mount Defiance and back via Mason Lake / Ira Spring trail. A friend suggested this to me as good training for scrambles later in the season. 

The trail starts by going straight on the Ira Spring Connector at the first bend of the Mason Lake Trail. Someone put sticks over the trail, likely to keep Mason Lake hikers from taking the wrong trail. The Connector is well maintained. A ways in you'll hit a sign for the continuation of the Connector, you take a right up the hill there. 

From there, the first half of P3 is reminiscent of the Old Si Trail - elevation gain, but with lots of switchbacks making it not too bad. When the switchbacks stop, the rest of the trail is straight up. It's a semi-scramble, similar to Snoqualmie Mountain (and steeper than Mailbox, since that's the trail everyone compares steepness to). Judging from the Strava heat map, it appears a lot of people turn around when they hit this part. 

The advantage of such a steep hike is that the views are incredible. After you get above the treeline, there are also tons of wildflowers right now. Rather than go to Web Mountain, I took a right and walked along the ridge. You have panoramic views to either side, Spider Valley and Lake as well as the I90 corridor. The first half of the ridge can be a route finding challenge. Once it dips into the trees it's a little more clear. 

Defiance was beautiful, but super buggy. They weren't biting bugs, but they swarm your face and are annoying. This was the only place bugs were an issue. 

The way down to Mason Lake was dry, and after the scramble and ridge hike, super easy. Mason Lake had a really nice breeze, so there were no bugs at all. People were swimming. The temperature and breeze were so perfect I stayed for a while. 

I saw no one on the P3 trail or the ridge until I turned up to Defiance, and only 4 people from there to Mason Lake. Mason Lake had one camp set up and one or two other people. On the way down I saw around 15 people coming up the trail, most with with overnight packs. Mid-week is definitely the time to hit Mason Lake.