Mt. Dickerman Sunrise Hike, July 2017

Mount Dickerman
Date:
July 22, 2013
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,875 Feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near Verlot, Washington (Mountain Loop Highway)
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry To One Patch Of Snow
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Matt Kerby, Craig Schilling & Macho the Wonderdog

This was supposed to be our third sunrise hike, but the low clouds made it impossible to see the sunrise. The last time I was on top of Mt. Dickerman was early June 4 years ago with a lot of snow, today’s hike was snow free. We made the summit in 2 1/2 hours with a couple of tents perched on top….our group woke them.

We hung on top for 45 minutes to take all of those non-sunrise pictures, but even without the sunrise you have a 360 view of sheer beauty. On the way down we started to run into those Saturday morning hikers and the lot was full by the time we got back to our car at 8:30 a.m.

Mt. Dickerman Hike, June 2013

Mount Dickerman
Date:
June 22, 2013
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,875 Feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near Verlot, Washington (Mountain Loop Highway)
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry To Packed Snow.
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Emelie Espling, Paul Bates, Mei Yin, Alyssa Yin, Tamara Chinn & Macho the dog wonder.

Since my wife Linna is getting bored with the I-90 hikes out of Seattle, we decided on Mt. Dickerman www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-dickerman on the Mountain Loop highway for a couple of reasons. The 360 degree summit view is to die for and on the most part this trail is never crowded. Not everyone is willing to drive 75 miles from Seattle to stomp through snow and exhaust every muscle in their body as they consume every bit of energy they might have.

We were a party of seven ranging from Alyssa Yin of 12 years old to me…53 in about 3 weeks. I knew there would be snow on the trail but, I didn’t think we would be stair stepping straight up the mountain; this turn a moderate hike into adventurous alpine ascent. The descent was much faster taking advantage of the snow slides; we had some great laughs and even some scary moments.

I think Emelie Espling had the most unexpected turn of events. First post-holing on the descent when her body was still moving forward this could have been disastrous. Second, she had an uncontrollable slide and fell four feet on her ass in a tree well. All seven of us made it back to the cars in one piece….just a little sore!