Kicking It Up a Notch - Mount Dickerman, 6.25.19
Let me preface this report by saying one of the big reasons we moved to Lake Stevens seventeen years ago was to have quicker, easier access to the Cascades. As soon as you leave Lake Stevens on Highway 92 it becomes what is called “The Mountain Loop Highway”. This loop runs east into the mountains from Lake Stevens and eventually turns to a dirt road at Barlow Pass, then heads south until it reaches the town of Darrington. There you can go west back to Highway 9, thus completing the loop.
There are a ton of great hikes and climbs along the route and Bridgit and I have climbed many a mountain in this area. We can leave the house and be at any number of great trailheads in less than an hour. One of those trailheads leads to the summit of Mount Dickerman which leads me to my story.
I have been working really hard to take better care of myself in this last year and part of that commitment was to walk. I have walked at least five miles almost every day for the past year. To improve my hiking muscle strength, when it rains or is cold I do a stairstep routine at home that is sort of the equivalent of gaining 1,000’ of vertical elevation. As spring arrived I began to go out on hikes in various places. While some had long mileage, none had a whole lot of elevation gain which is an area that has caused me many problems in the past several years due to being out of shape. My legs are feeling much stronger now but I needed to test the muscles that are used to gain elevation over a long hike. Mount Dickerman, while only 5,723’ high, has a trail that gains 3,800’ in four miles to reach the summit. In my book, any time you gain a thousand feet of vertical per mile hiked, you are getting some good exercise.
I was the second car at the trailhead this morning at 8AM and started up the trail. The first section is in beautiful second growth timber but very quickly it heads uphill. There are 53 switchbacks up through the forest before you level out into a series of blueberry meadows that are famous for their abundance of juicy, ripe berries in the late summer and fall. After the blueberry meadows the trail climbs again and begins to run along a ridge that gave me views to the north. An opening revealed the summit of Mount Dickerman and it was apparent there was still a bit more work to do before summiting.
Mount Dickerman summit from the north ridge
About a mile before the summit, the trail begins to enter a vast meadow system as it steadily climbs. Views expand very quickly of all the amazing peaks to the south. Then when you finally reach the summit, there are peaks in every direction. From years of hiking and studying maps and guides, I was able to name a large number of the peaks surrounding me.
Pano from Glacier peak to Big Four Mountain
Bridgit and I met in the fall of 1991 and married by the fall of 1992. The summer of 1993 we climbed 23 peaks and it remains one of the best years of my life with so many fond memories. Two particular peaks we had climbed were right across from my perch - Del Campo Peak and Vesper Peak. Vesper we even did twice because the first time it rained and snowed and we saw nothing. We returned on my birthday that fall with Bridgit’s sister Cathy.
Left to right: Del Campo Peak, Morning Star Peak, Sperry Peak, Vesper Peak
We climbed Del Campo on a climbing club trip with the Mountaineers. It is a difficult mountain to climb and Bridgit needed some assistance that day getting back down a particularly exposed steep section.
Del Campo Peak
Climbing Vesper was a blast. You have a difficult creek crossing near the beginning, then it climbs really steeply into what looks like a dead end basin before scrambling over Headlee Pass. Then the route traverses a big rockslide to a lovely lake nestled right between Vesper and Sperry. From the lake we climbed up onto Vesper's south face and climbed big slabs of granite up the top where a thousand foot cliff dropped straight down on the north side.
Sperry Peak and Vesper Peak
White Chuck Mountain was one we attempted late that same fall. We only made it to the base of the rock face before rime ice on the rock pretty much ended that idea.
White Chuck Mountain
Another failed attempt was when I was training to go on a backpack trip to the Olympics with Mike Kent. The weather was brutally hot that July and I had been on a long hike the previous day. I went with two friends from the Mountaineers to climb Mt. Forgotten. I almost made it to the summit but the heat got the better of me and I bailed while the other two continued on to the top. Mike Kent’s mom was a hell of a climber and she always used to say, “The mountain isn’t going anywhere”. I’ve heeded her advice on numerous occasions.
Mt. Forgotten
Off to the north, Mount Baker was in and out of the clouds the whole time I was on the summit. At one point, it looked like Mount Fuji, almost hovering in mid-air.
Mount Baker
Now that the snow is melting from the high country, the flowers are beginning to show off their annual display. What are these? Avalanche lilies? Anyway, they were all over the hillside.
Flowers in front of Foggy Peak
So I was really pleased that I had no muscle issues after this hike but it was definitely a workout. This was my fourth trip to the summit of Mount Dickerman and I never get tired of the scenery from up there.