10-06-18
I
was on my own this weekend. Many
folks are out chasing larch trees and I did it on Wednesday. Time to go
high for some views of peaks with fresh snow coats. Cloudy in the
Central Cascades. Clear in to the north. I decided to head back to Mt.
Dickerman. I was not getting going very fast and it was 7:50 am by the
time I was on the road. One stop for gas and I was off to Granite
Falls. From there it was east on the Mountain Loop Highway to Big Four
and just beyond to the Mt. Dickerman trailhead. I arrived at 9:20 am to
find the lot 3/4 full. Much later than I usually arrive but it had
warmed up a bit. By 9:30 am I was on my way. A number of groups started
out just ahead of me. As I climbed up I reeled them in. I passed two
then another two and a one and two more. Then I had solitude for much
of the way up. The trail is nicely graded with many switchbacks. The
trailhead is at 1900' and the summit is at 5680'.
After many switchbacks the route begins a traverse to the west. An opening in the forest provides views to the south. Big Four was first then over to Vesper and Sperry Peaks. The sky was clear at the start and still clear to the south when the views opened up. The grade lessens as the trail crosses a creek with waterfall and moved to a meadow. The huckleberry bushes still had red and orange leaves. As I neared the top of the meadow I caught up with two hikers. One turned out to be Elle. I have done many hikes with her and her dog Isabel but not in several years. Always nice to run into an old friend on the trail. We hiked up and down together. Mark was hiking with her. I had not met him before.
Soon we were on the upper trail heading for the meadow under the summit. Some very nice colors in the huckleberry bushes along the trail. Even a few ripe berries left. View to the south opened up. It became clear that clouds were coming in. Clouds overhead and also clouds over the peaks to the south. What happened to my clear skies all day forecast? We reached the meadow and began the last climb to the summit. There was some snow on the trail. It was packed down but not to slick. We arrived on top at 11:50 am.
I had hoped that it would be clearer to the north. No such luck. The top of Glacier Peak was in the clear. I never saw Sloan Peak or Whitechuck or Pugh. I think I saw one of the Three Fingers. Shuksan was in the open and Baker was clear at first. With the fresh snow the views should have been spectacular. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. On the plus side the swirling clouds were photogenic in their own right. It was in the low 40s and we put on insulating layers and jackets. There were several groups on the summit when we arrived. More arrived all the time. We were in no hurry to go down. We also had a faint hope that the sky would clear. That never did happen. We stayed on top until 12:55 pm.
The trip down went fine. It is a lot of pounding whenever you have almost 4000' of descent. I looked carefully for the 2 mile marker and did not see it. Next time I'll go really slow to be sure. There are not many of the metal mile markers left. I hope I just missed it. We saw some folks coming up in the first mile coming down. After that we saw very few folks. We made it down to the trailhead at 3:02 pm. The lot was mostly full. Most cars are for hikers going up Mt. Dickerman. Since the Perry Creek Trail also starts from there you can't tell how many are going on that trail.
It was nice to run into Elle and meet Mark. I headed out for a solo hike but 2/3 of it was with friends. The views from the top were a little disappointing. The clouds were at least swirling rather than dark gray and covering everything. The trail is a very good workout. A steady climb with only a short flatter spot in the lower meadows. There were a number of folks on the trail but it was not crowded. I think the larch fever sent some people farther east. All in all, it was a fine day for a hike in the mountains.
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Trips - 2018
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After many switchbacks the route begins a traverse to the west. An opening in the forest provides views to the south. Big Four was first then over to Vesper and Sperry Peaks. The sky was clear at the start and still clear to the south when the views opened up. The grade lessens as the trail crosses a creek with waterfall and moved to a meadow. The huckleberry bushes still had red and orange leaves. As I neared the top of the meadow I caught up with two hikers. One turned out to be Elle. I have done many hikes with her and her dog Isabel but not in several years. Always nice to run into an old friend on the trail. We hiked up and down together. Mark was hiking with her. I had not met him before.
Soon we were on the upper trail heading for the meadow under the summit. Some very nice colors in the huckleberry bushes along the trail. Even a few ripe berries left. View to the south opened up. It became clear that clouds were coming in. Clouds overhead and also clouds over the peaks to the south. What happened to my clear skies all day forecast? We reached the meadow and began the last climb to the summit. There was some snow on the trail. It was packed down but not to slick. We arrived on top at 11:50 am.
I had hoped that it would be clearer to the north. No such luck. The top of Glacier Peak was in the clear. I never saw Sloan Peak or Whitechuck or Pugh. I think I saw one of the Three Fingers. Shuksan was in the open and Baker was clear at first. With the fresh snow the views should have been spectacular. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. On the plus side the swirling clouds were photogenic in their own right. It was in the low 40s and we put on insulating layers and jackets. There were several groups on the summit when we arrived. More arrived all the time. We were in no hurry to go down. We also had a faint hope that the sky would clear. That never did happen. We stayed on top until 12:55 pm.
The trip down went fine. It is a lot of pounding whenever you have almost 4000' of descent. I looked carefully for the 2 mile marker and did not see it. Next time I'll go really slow to be sure. There are not many of the metal mile markers left. I hope I just missed it. We saw some folks coming up in the first mile coming down. After that we saw very few folks. We made it down to the trailhead at 3:02 pm. The lot was mostly full. Most cars are for hikers going up Mt. Dickerman. Since the Perry Creek Trail also starts from there you can't tell how many are going on that trail.
It was nice to run into Elle and meet Mark. I headed out for a solo hike but 2/3 of it was with friends. The views from the top were a little disappointing. The clouds were at least swirling rather than dark gray and covering everything. The trail is a very good workout. A steady climb with only a short flatter spot in the lower meadows. There were a number of folks on the trail but it was not crowded. I think the larch fever sent some people farther east. All in all, it was a fine day for a hike in the mountains.
 Parking Lot |
 Mossy Rock Along Trail |
 Narrow Trail |
 Mossier Rock |
 First Leaf Color |
 Big Four Mountain |
 Yellow Leaves |
 Sperry & Vesper |
 Colorful Meadow |
 Backlit Color |
 Rave On A Snag |
 Mt. Forgotten |
 Stillaguamish Peak |
 Huckleberry Leaves |
 Elle Leads Up Trail |
 Still More Color |
 Summit Is Above |
 Del Campo Peak |
 Snow On Trail |
 Cloudy Glacier Peak |
 Snowy On Top |
 Elle & Izzy |
 Fresh Snow On Glacier |
 Big Four Again |
 Cloudy Sperry Peak |
 Sperry & Vesper Again |
 Snowy Ridge |
 Heading Down |
 Hall & Mt. Pilchuck |
 Big Meadow |
 Peaks & Clouds |
 Del Campo Again |
 Last Color |
 Elle & Mark |
 Mt. Dickerman Summit Panorama |
Trips - 2018
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