With the temperature inversion scheduled to go through the 3-day weekend, I figured I could either stay inside all day in the fog or go hiking again. It wasn't really a hard choice. It had been a while since I'd been out past Pilchuck on Mountain Loop highway so I figured now would be a good time to tackle Dickerman.
The road was frosty for the last 6 miles or so (a bad estimate) but easily drivable at 40mph. The trailhead parking lot had 2-3 inches of snow, but was easy enough to get into and drive around.
The snow-free trail climbs slowly (so many switchbacks!) for the first couple miles until snow starts appearing in patches, until it eventually covers the whole trail. There are a couple open slopes that would be avalanche-prone if conditions were right but it was cool enough in the morning that all the snow was frozen in place. Microspikes would have been nice for this section.
Eventually we climbed past thinning trees to views of Big Four, Del Campo, and lots of other peaks I don't know. By that time the snow had begun to melt more and we had an easy time going up to the summit without any traction devices. Thanks to whoever went up there within the last couple weeks; it was easy to follow those tracks most of the way to the top.
Great views from the top, it makes me want to climb Big Four sometime...
Big Four
Some cornices looked like they were ready to fall any moment
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