Meeting up with some buddies in Seattle Oct 23-27, all 3 of us have plenty of backcountry experience, late 20's in good shape. Looking to hit a peak or 2, maybe even make a peak bagging weekend of it, however I'm the only one with any mountaineering/snow experience (class 3 and lower, plenty of top rope though). Figured everyone has to start somewhere, so we were wondering if there's anything feesible within a couple hour drive of Seattle that late in the season? We've all got helmets, I've got axe/poles/crampons and the other guys have no problem buying gear. Me being me, my mind immediately went to Mt Stuart but I'm worried that may be a little ambitious for Oct. Any thoughts on peaks or areas - Teanaways, Stuart Range, Olympic Nat Park, etc? If it's not doable we're just gonna fall back to lower elevation backpacking and maybe some mountain biking. Looking for advice from you locals, any help is appreciated.

Mid-October is usually when things start to crap out around here. Late October buts up against the rainiest month of all, November. So the odds are against you in the weather department. Not to mention the days are starting to get pretty short. On the other hand, with the way this summer has been going, something tells me that this October will be dry. So you never know. I wouldn't plan on heading to Stuart, that's pretty committing for October. And the Olympic peaks, certainly on the windward side, will be raining before anything else does. But the other Teanaway peaks should definitely be doable so long as it's not torrential rain. If you run into a dry spell, you could try scrambling any of the Snoqualmie Pass peaks...Kendall Peak, Snoqualmie, Kaleetan, Red.