Straight Glacier - Pugh (81, 59)

In the drizzly gray mountain weather of Sunday, ZH, JC, Aaron, and I got in our August turns on the Straight Glacier off Mt. Pugh.

We really didn't know what to expect or how hard it would be to access the glacier, so we lugged up gear to rappel down to it. I was not very interested in seeing if we could dislodge rocks on ourselves, so I'm happy we never had to think about getting the rope out. We were fairly easily able to pick our way down/across benches and ramps with some downclimbing -- wet rock and moss added a little spice.

Soon enough we were looking at big suncups, several open crevasses, and a fair amount of blue ice. "I guess we probably don't really need to ski to the bottom of this..."

The skiing was skiing in August! Not the worst, not the best. Everyone successfully avoided the blue ice and holes. Afterward we went up to the summit and hung out for a bit, completely socked in. The way down we enjoyed the clouds dissipating and tendrilling around us -- surreal and beautiful.

Lots of laughs, good conversation, and a great day out with top-notch company! I am grateful.

P.S. JC is extra crazy: this is her first summer of TAY and this was her SECOND ski of August (first was also in WA), and her second time skiing the Straight Glacier!! She chose a much more appropriate month to ski it the first time (April some years ago). Oh, she also split-skied it this trip. Didn't want to carry the bindings.