Mount Dickerman

What two friends and myself thought was going to be a fun snowshoe adventure, turned into a slippy and slidey excursion. We arrived at a snow-free trailhead at 9:30 am. The roads were slightly damp, but completely clear even beyond the Dickerman pull off. With snowshoes strapped to our packs and warm breath fogging the cold air we headed up the trail. We started making bets as to when we would see a solid covering of snow. I had the best guess of 3100 ft, but even that guess was way off. We started to see a solid layer around 4100 ft. Did we put on our snowshoes when we hit the snow? -- NO we did not. Did we wish we had our yak tracks or crampons? YES we did.

The trail consisted of compact snow and ice; snow shoes were not at all necessary for this entire trip. We still had a blast though. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, Big Four was watching down upon us. One couldn't really ask for more out of a December day. We took our time and summitted around 1:30 or so. We snapped pictures, chatted with other hikers, ate our lunch, and took it all in. Coming down was a bit more exciting. We moved slowly over the icy trail, and we all made it down without one slip onto the behind.

In short, if it hasn't snowed for a while... Bring something pointy to stick on your feet.