What a spectacular day hike! I get asked "What is your favorite hike?" pretty often as a WTA staff person, and I've have yet to perfect my answer. It's usually just the last hike I went on. Dock Butte, however, might remain my answer for a few weeks to come. It was difficult enough to feel rewarding, but short enough to not be too intimidating to less active (or newer) hikers. The views were spectacular and the road to the trailhead is in near perfect condition. This was the perfect hike to introduce one of my Hike-a-Thon sponsors to the North Cascades.
We arrived at the trailhead around noon, having gotten a later start out of Seattle than we meant to. I was surprised to find only 6 other cars in the parking lot that is shared with the Blue Lake trailhead. The bathroom at the trailhead was even in great condition (hey, it's the little things, right?). We ended up seeing only 10 other hikers the whole afternoon in three different groups.
As mentioned in previous trip reports, there were definitely flies (of the aggressive variety) and other biting bugs in the parking lot and along the trail. We were lucky enough to have a pretty windy day that kept them at bay, but don't forget your bug spray if you're heading out on this hike regardless of the forecast.
The trail is in great condition with the exception of about three logs you have hop/climb/jump over. There's one low-hanging dead tree about 2/3 of a mile in that I neglected to see. My hiking partner said "heads up" right as my hat and head were connecting with it... Folks taller than 5'7" won't miss it, and folks shorter than me shouldn't have a problem, but if you're my height and wearing a hat that obscures things at about that height, don't forget to look up B-).
Hiking poles were definitely helpful on the way down, though we only had one pair between the two of us and I did just fine in sturdy hiking boots. My GPS tracker logged exactly 4 miles round trip, and we took the slightly longer, less steep route up, and the steeper scramble down. (Not my normal choice of route, but the variety was nice and there were only one or two short sections where you were actually "scrambling" down.)
We had the summit completely to ourselves! I'm not sure if it was the unusual midday start time or if this trail is always lightly trafficked, but it was a real treat.
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