Road to Sunrise is closed, but you can still access the White River Campground Day Use Area! (Campground is closed.) This makes the trek up to Dege about 10 miles round trip with approx. 2700 ft. of gain. And boy was it PERFECT. Absolutely deserted, not a soul around for miles that I could see. 

I arrived at the parking area at 6:45 am this morning, and it was just starting to get light. I needed a head lamp just to find the trailhead, and then I ditched it. The Wonderland Trail up to Sunrise is in wonderful condition. Sunrise was of course completely silent. I happily marched onwards towards Dege. I was in and out of very cold/windy fog, but I truly lucked out in the end. Stunning views from the peak. I heard elk (never saw) but I did run into a mountain goat at the top! 

I didn't start seeing signs of human life until I was on the return trip back down the Wonderland. I'm guessing most people were headed to Fremont. A truly glorious fall day. Excellent trail conditions, 100% solitude in a place normally teeming with activity, and stunning views!

trail was beautiful. very little bugs. dusty so maybe eye protection for some parts of the trail if you're sensitive. moderate hike. recommend hydrating with electrolytes on sunny day. throat felt dry most the way. you can see the roads from this hike so it's pretty fun to see like car commercials views. I recommend this hike, is less crowd, is shorter mileage.

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. 

I started my hike around 6am with a thin veil of haze in the air and large plumes of smoke to the south. Anyone know what fire that is? The mission today was drive on state road 123 before it closes for a month and hit a couple hikes. I started out at Sunrise Point, a first for me for Dege Peak. It didn't occur to me that the elevation gain would be in a much shorter distance. This approach is short and sweet and packs a punch. The trail is goreous with a couple exposed (eroded) sections that might be too much for someone with a fear of heights or boys like mine when they were little...not chill. I heard the bugle of elk, which seems early in the season. Is it? Probably just wishful thinking that we'll actually get a nice hearty winter this year. This is one of my favorite hikes and I think I'll have to add Sunrise Point trailhead as one of my adventures each year.

We started our hike at 5:30 pm.    The trail to Dege Peak was quiet and the pasque flower seedheads were lit by the setting sun.    We had the peak to ourselves, and we only met up with about 5 people on the trail the whole way there and back.    We stopped at Sunrise Point on the drive down to watch the pink sky behind Mount Adams.