Stillaguamish Peak

Perry Creek, Stillaguamish Peak — Oct 19, 2010 — Norm

Day hike

Features: Fall foliage

This was our first trip on the trail #711 extension from the Dickerman trailhead parking area. Instead of 10...

This was our first trip on the trail #711 extension from the Dickerman trailhead parking area. Instead of 10 miles round trip to Stillaguamish Peak it is now 12, and on the return our feet were feeling it. The trail is in great shape and the Perry Creek crossing is easy this time of year but poles are recommended if the log-bridge is frosty. We found a way-trail that was flagged and headed up to the ridge. Then we traveled west through forest and brightly colored blueberry meadows.
Use caution crossing several short, steep rock gulleys and when scrambling up the summit block.
The views along the way and from the summit were spectacular on the beautiful Fall day and we captured many photos of the surrounding mountains and meadows. On top there is a brass register, under a pile of rocks, to sign in on. The trip is long and your feet may ache but the views are worth the effort.
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Stillaguamish — Aug 09, 2009 — Chuck Gustafson

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries

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This was a Mountaineer's scramble. Left TH at 8:00. Low overcast and very humid. Perry...

  This was a Mountaineer's scramble. Left TH at 8:00. Low overcast and very humid. Perry Creek was very low and easy to cross. Foggy above Perry Creek. Trail above Perry Creek (the switchbacks) is in poor condition due to overuse. Took abandoned FS trail and then climber's path on ridge to Stillaguamish. Ups and downs and a few spots where hands are required.

  Just before dropping down to a nasty chute on climber’s path, instead turn right to top of knob on very, very faint path. From here go down on an obvious path to a ledge at the top of the chute. This appears to be the best way to cross if done slowly and carefully. Has lots of handholds.

  We then worked our way up to the very pleasant summit. 5 hours to summit with several breaks, including a long one waiting for route to dry. Spent over an hour resting and enjoying the views. Stats were 10 hours, 11 miles with shortcut up from switchbacks, and 4,370' gross elev.

  Bugs were minimal and yes many wildflowers are still blooming. Blueberries starting to ripen, but very small on the ridge.

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Mt. Stillaguamish,Perry Creek #711 — Jul 29, 2007 — Bob

Day hike

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Perry Ck. to Mt. Stillaguamish. A few bugs, clear trail, clear day, beautiful views. Saddle to Stillaguamish Peak remains sketchy...

Perry Ck. to Mt. Stillaguamish. A few bugs, clear trail, clear day, beautiful views. Saddle to Stillaguamish Peak remains sketchy but doable if you are careful. Next time I'm bringing a saw to cut some of the brush in the saddles.

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Perry Creek #711,Stillaguamish Peak — Jul 28, 2007 — Norm

Day hike

Issues: Bugs

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The trail #711 is in fine shape and the climbers-path, after the Forgotten Peak junction, is easy to follow. Great...

The trail #711 is in fine shape and the climbers-path, after the Forgotten Peak junction, is easy to follow. Great views from the ridge looking north to White Chuck and Forgotten. The flowers are still blooming along the meadows and on the summit block. The bugs were around but not too bad if you keep moving. A few snow patches above 5000' but melting fast.

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Perry Creek #711,Mount Stillaguamish meadows — Aug 28, 2006 — Quantum Guru

Day hike

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Just the two of us today. I and hiking buddy Blue Towel drove the Mountain Loop highway 15 miles beyond...

Just the two of us today. I and hiking buddy Blue Towel drove the Mountain Loop highway 15 miles beyond Verlot, turned left on FS #4063, and drove an easy mile to the trailhead: a Monday morning, and only two other cars were there.

Last Fall, we hiked this same trail all the way to Mt. Forgotten Meadows. The rainy season had begun, the waterfalls across the canyon were flowing, and the moss covered boulders along the first couple of miles of trail were phenomenal. This year we were earlier, on a warm summer day with the moss crisp and dry, and little water flowing.

Our crossing of Perry Creek was easy today. A few steps on dry boulders, then the remainder on that wonderful, long log. Then up through the forest, at first on short switchbacks, then on longer ones. Here, we encountered a lone backpacker with his small dog, the only other person we saw all day. We continued up a bit more to reach an obvious, if unsigned, ""Y."" Last Fall we stayed right to reach Mt. Forgotten Meadows. This year we chose left, an unofficial but obvious

trail, heading first up to the ridge top, then back down to skirt two boulder fields. Then back up to the ridge top again to reach the first great viewpoint, with Whitechuck Mountain and Mt. Pugh to the north, Mt. Forgotten and Glacier Peak to the East. But still no sign of Stilly, out of sight there to the west.

A bit of brush, then the first small hillside meadow. The early wildflowers were long gone, the lupine sporting only seedpods. But the fireweed was out in force, and asters still showy. A second small meadow offered more of the same.

We reached the top of a rocky ridge, a fine viewpoint across more meadows, with the summit pinnacle of Stillaguamish now looming beyond (photo.) It seemed a bit of a way off, but looked like an easy stroll across the meadows. We contemplated this. We'd already come about as far as we had planned and the afternoon was getting on. But the day was exhilarating and we decided to press on, at least for a while.

Oops, after more meadow we came to a notch, not obvious earlier! We would have to scramble down a bit of rock, then down a couple of hundred feet more through a woodsy section. Should we stop, or go on? Oh, well, why not...? Down a ways we found a well-worn campfire coffee pot left on a branch by some former traveler, though what the message was we weren't sure.

We reached the bottom of the notch and started back up. Soon, a large boulder blocked the trail, and the trail switchbacked up twice then, perversely, seemed to dead end. We pressed on up through more brush, where bits of orange ribbon showed others had been too. (But, on our return, we discovered it would have been marginally easier to hop over that big boulder and continue up directly from there.)

We emerged into the final meadow, with the summit pinnacle ahead. The east face is a true precipice, but we walked easily to the south shoulder to check out prospects from there. At that point, Mt. Pilchuck was visible to the far west, and the route to Stillaguamish's summit was clear.

We would have needed to drop down around some more brush, traverse a narrow path across a rock face, then scramble up an easy slope of rock and heather to reach the summit. That did not look particularly difficult, but it already was late, and it would have added significantly more time than we had allowed so, with some regret, we began to think of returning home.

First, we looked once again around the horizon at all the peaks, beginning with Mt. Pilchuck in the west, then Big Four Mountain and Vesper Peak to the south, the Monte Cristo Peaks to the east with Sloan Peak looming beyond them, Glacier Peak to the far east, and Mt. Forgotten and Mt. Pugh much closer. Whitechuck Mountain was prominent to the north. To add to this, from further east in the meadows, we already had enjoyed good views of Whitehorse Mountain and Three Fingers to the NW.

To the far NE, a billowy cloud of white smoke from a distant forest fire was visible. While some haze from other fires was evident in the air today, it did not diminish the fantastic views of so many peaks.

This is a great hike for the views, and for the likely solitude. We may try it again next year as an overnight backpack, to allow ample time to scramble all the way to the summit of Stillaguamish.

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