Trip report from the boys' WTA report

Hello, we are the "little" Mountain Goats, Terrence (12) and Nathan (15) and today we climbed Putrid Pete's Peak. We had unfinished business with PPP, since we were turned back below the summit during our winter attempt. The road up to the trailhead is better than it used to be, and it looks like somebody filled in some potholes. We left the car at 8:30. The beginning of the trail is very flat and easy to follow. Once you get to the split, it gets more steep and less maintained the other trail goes to Dirty Harry's Peak. There are lots of slippery roots, so be careful. After awhile of going up the trees begin to thin out and you emerge onto the open slopes of the mountain. Soon there are some good views, and it gets even more steep. We could barely see the main ridge ahead through the rest, but were able to see across I 90 at some of the mountains - McClellan's Butte, Mount Kent, and the Duke and Duchess were visible.

There is a little bit of route finding required, but overall, it's pretty easy to stay on track after the switchbacks end and the straight up begins. The trail is rocky and tiring but after awhile you get on the ridge. To the left you see a hump - on the top of that you see another hump - and on the top of that hump you see Putrid Pete's Peak. We were expecting a hard scramble based on some reports (we even brought our helmets), but there is really no more than 20 or 30 feet of easy rock. It was no problem, even being a bit we, and we arrived at the summit at 10:45. The peak was completely in fog so we had few views but we could see a lake down below to west. Spider Lake? After about 45 minutes up top, we made our way down. The way down was difficult because it was so steep but were still able to come down very fast and got back to the car by 1:30. This hike is not overly difficult, and a good trainer if you like things a little steep. If you want to not see many people, but hike close to Seattle this is the hike to do. Thanks for reading and Happy Hiking!