[trailjunky]

After finishing up my holiday shift I had to get out of town for an afternoon hike, with as much as wildernessed spits out trip reports I feel like im never in the woods. Yes I too sense a little trail envy here. I figured id head for the mountain loop highway and take my chances summiting either Pilchuck or Dickerman. As I approached the cloud covered mountains I became a little concerned, the clouds were not burning off like id hoped. There is nothing worse than hiking a mountain without views. I drove past Pilchuck assuming it was not tall enough for blue skies on top. I pulled into the Mount Dickerman trailhead, 16.6 miles past the verlot ranger station making my Toyota Camry the tenth vehicle in the parking lot. I hit the trail at 11am at a steady pace knowing I had a long way to go and lots of elevation gain. I like the trail, good shape, maybe a few too many rocks, but oh well. The first few thousand feet of elevation gain seemed to roll right off without a problem, it was the last thousand that put the boot in my ass. I hit snow around 5000 feet, but barely enough to even mention. After crossing a couple extremely small snow fields I would be making my final approach to the summit. Unfortunately once there, I had not a single view. Just my luck, I guess that’s what happens when you take a chance. This was a great hike, and everyone I met along the way was quite friendly. The flowers that dotted the trail were worth the trip alone, all kinds of colors out. I can only imagine this trip when the blueberries are in season and the skies are clear. On a day like that it could take forever to get to the top, not today, 2.5 hours. I waited around for more than an hour hoping the clouds would break, they never did. Someday I will have to make that trip back when the blueberries are out and the skies are clear. I hear the views are magnificent. Round trip 8.5 miles, and 3,900 feet of elevation gain, with a summit elevation of 5,723 feet. Source, 100 classic hikes in Washington.

[Malachai Constant]

Dude we must have seen you as we did exacty the same thang