Stats: 11.0 miles, 5250 feet net elevation gain, 7200 feet max elevation
Drive: road unpaved approximately 5 miles SE of Darrington; approach navigable with 2WD sedan, however watch for potholes
Weather: partly cloudy, temperature 50-55F (summit), 70-75F (trailhead); trail dry, winds 5-10 knots
Obstacles: >15 blowdowns between Lake Metam (3200 ft) and Stujack Pass (4900 ft), 2 require shortcutting switchbacks and would be difficult in wet/muddy conditions
Water: last reliable water source is at Lake Metam at 3200 ft – refill here before ascending or bring sufficient water (recommend >3L)
Scramble: The scramble begins at summit block base at approximately 6400 ft after traversing the knife edge above the top of Stujack Pass. The crux of the scramble occurs at the beginning of the summit block marked by a metal ring in the rock, and involves some airy Class 2 moves ascending approximately 80 ft. From here, the scramble involves low exposure Class 2 moves interspersed with at times exposed hiking. A safe scramble for anyone with basic experience. The scramble is completely free of snow at this time, microspikes are not necessary.
Summary: Da Klagwats, also known as Mount Pugh, is a fantastic aerobic hike with an accessible scramble at the summit block at the end, and is a great introductory scramble or a great training hike/scramble for those with more experience. The first 1300 ft to Lake Metam is a wooded hike, followed by another ~1700 ft hike through forested and moderate switchback terrain to the base of Stujack Pass. The hardest part of the hike is navigating the numerous blowdowns in this section between the lake and pass (I counted 18 that required navigating around). Some of these are quite large and require shortcutting in the case of 2 switchbacks, as noted above. I met two volunteers who were kindly logging blowdowns below the lake, they said they were going to attempt to tackle the higher blowdowns, so hopefully as of 7/23 some of these may be cleared (thank you!). Stujack pass is a relatively straightforward hike through talus and wildflower fields, though it is a workout! From Stujack pass, it’s a knife ridge hike with intermittent switchbacks followed by the scramble as discussed above. The views at the top are fantastic, with unrivalled views of Glacier Peak, jagged Sloan Peak and Monte Cristo, Whitehorse and Three Fingers, as well as Mount Dickerman and Forgotten to the southwest. Further peaks can also be spied including Rainier and Adams, Mount Stuart and the Enchantment Range, and even Mount Daniel all to the south. Definitely my favorite view in the Mountain Loop region!
Timepoints: Started at 8:00, trailhead to summit in 3:10 with a 10 minute break (summited at 11:10), started my descent at 12:15 and returned to the trailhead in 2:20 (returned at 14:35) for a total elapsed time of 6:35 and moving time of 5:20.
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