The weather report for Mt Dickerman had the cloud with sun peeking out icon for Veterans Day. It turned out to be true – the clouds never left the Stillaguamish Valley all day, but it was all sun in the mountains.
There were four cars in the lot at 8am but it was full by 2pm. The toilet was closed and wrapped in what looked like crime scene tape. There’s another one at the other end of the lot where the Perry Creek trail starts. The trail is just over four miles of relentless uphill, but the gradient isn’t too bad and the views start early. There’s some interesting fungus in the first few miles because of the recent rain. Those rains have also made parts of the trail into a riverbed. Still, it never got deep enough to get into my boots.
There’s quite a lot of snow near the top and I put microspikes on for the last 600-700 vertical feet. They were useful in the early morning ice but after about 11, the sun turned the ice into slush and spikes weren’t needed. However, postholing was a thing once the snow softened. From the appearance of the summit block, I had been expecting a scramble near the top but the approach from the south continued gently right to the finish. That northern precipice is steep and high and some of the snow on the edge is none too stable.
You get nice views of Del Campo and Vesper across the valley as you are climbing. Near the top, Kulshan and Shuksan appear, followed by the surprisingly close Glacier Peak. When you reach the peak, you can see Tahoma as part of an amazing panorama. The summit has many sub-peaks with comfortable rocks for a scenic lunch.
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