Dege Peak — Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

Many times, I had done hikes out of Sunrise, always to the left-hand side toward the Mountain, and the interchange of trails there. This time my hiking companions and I took a right above the parking lot at Sunrise and hiked the ridge trail above the road to Dege Peak and out to Sunrise Point. A beautiful clear and fairly warm end of summer day. Arrived at the lot at about 10:30 after an almost three-hour drive of detours due to the Buckley Bridge not being accessible. Dry and often exposed trail looking down on the Sunrise Road, then the short left-hand trail up to the summit of Dege (7,008 feet), with a commanding view of the surrounding area--the valleys on the opposite side, Sunrise Lake, and Sunrise Point in the distance. Way off to the other side, Grand Park. We stayed on the summit for an hour, then continued along the ridge, which descends down to the parking/viewpoint area of Sunrise Point. Then the climb back up to the Dege junction! Returned to the parking lot at 2:30. Miles: 6.2; Wildlife: gray jays, marmots, chipmunks.