May 4, 2011, Straight Glacier - Mt Pugh

Late departure of 8 am had me walking in sneakers up the gated forest road at ~1,000 ft (closed till June 1) for 1 mile to the TH. Trail is in fine shape. Switched over to boots (3000 ft) just below Metan Lake. Snow coverage is good for continuous skinning from here (3180 ft) for now. Terrain was gentle enough through the trees (ski crampons were a plus) to make my own path up to the bottom of Stujack Pass and not follow the endless switchbacks of the summer trail. Newly fallen few inches was already toasting in the sun as I hustled up Stujack Pass.  From the pass a short boot up steep snow lead me to the SE ridge that shades the Straight Glacier. There are some nice lines to be had off Pugh€™s summit down NW face! An easy ridge traverse put me atop the glacier (~6500 ft). For the glacier descent it€™s an easy entry and mellow turns to however long your heart desires. The grabby snow had me stop at 4600 ft. Skinning back up the glacier allowed more recon on those NW face lines. Any takers?

Turns down Stujack Pass turned into a game of avoiding hidden frozen avy chunks. Turns down through the trees to Metan Lake were enjoyable but through tight trees at times. Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/TrevorL.Williams/MtPughStraightGlacierMay2011#