Local legend: Mount Dickerman offers great late-summer hiking, views

Published 4:50 pm Friday, August 31, 2007

Matt, my husband, isn’t one for hyperbole when it comes to hiking.

But before we had even reached the stunning 5,723-foot summit of Mount Dickerman, he had proclaimed the trail perhaps the greatest thing he’d ever seen. It was better than Whistler, he said, recalling the ski lifts we took to dizzying, snow-capped heights in Canada one summer.

This, of course, is impressive from a man who once trekked 46 miles across the Olympic Mountains in a single day and who took me honeymooning in The Enchantments.

Maybe it had something to do with the perfectly clear day and the fact that we were just getting acquainted, finally, after two years in the area, with the Mountain Loop Highway.

But one thing is certain: Dickerman offers some of the finest scenery around.

Plus, it’s only about 45 miles from Everett and will offer excellent hiking through October with fall color and huckleberries only increasing as summer nears its end.

You’ll have to hard work for it, naturally, by climbing 3,900 feet in about 4 miles to the top, never mind those dreaded knee-pounding 4 miles on the way down.

This mountain isn’t one for messing around.

Its legacy is one of tragedy as well as delight.

In August 1991, two Everett teenagers on a cross-country training trip fell to their deaths after they were separated from the rest of their party.

In February 2006, two men, one from Lake Stevens and another from Snohomish, died in separate winter climbing accidents on Mount Dickerman within 11 days of each other. Both were experienced, well-equipped and alone.

Fortunately, however, if you approach this trail with caution in late summer when the snow is gone, Dickerman needn’t be deadly.

Just remember to wear good boots (not sneakers or sandals) and bring your 10 essentials (including a lot of water because the trail is mostly dry), at least one hiking partner, physical fitness and some hiking experience.

Even before you park the car, Dickerman looms large and beautiful on the Mountain Loop Highway east of Silverton, practically across the Big Four Ice Caves turnoff.

Get there early to beat the crowds.

You’ll start in a quiet, old-growth forest with trees so majestic and grand, I found it reminiscent of a rain forest in the Olympic Mountains.

Splashes of sunshine soon enter the dark woods, treating you here and there to sprays of wildflowers, including orange tiger lilies, cow parsnip and false hellebore.

In a short while, as you follow switchbacks up and up, peek-a-boo views of nearby peaks emerge, most notably Big Four Mountain, taking your mind off your labored breathing and tired legs, tackling about 1,000 feet per mile.

After about two miles, hikers reach a ledge of open forest where the trail levels out a bit. It is rocky, but remarkably well groomed with log steps that guide you up further still to heathery meadows and increasingly awesome views.

Janice Van Cleve, a reviewer on the Washington Trails Association Web site, hiked Dickerman in July and delighted in its three-way split personality.

“It is like a concerto in three parts: allegro fortissimo, adagio and ascendo nonstoppo,” she wrote in her trip report.

Before you make your final push to the top, you can actually see where you’re headed as the summit materializes in the distance.

Natural viewpoints along the way make taking a rest seem necessary for photos, of course not wimpy.

You’ll need your strength.

Every grueling step of the last mile seems to reveal more.

Finally, upon reaching the top, you’ll find a truly sublime 360-degree view that seems to span from here to Canada.

Get lucky with a perfectly clear day, like we did, and you’ll be so glad you dragged yourself out of bed and your hiking gear out of the basement and your butt up this mountain.

Peaks abound at the top, including the easy-to-identify beauties of Baker and Shuksan to the north, Glacier to the east, Pilchuck and the Olympic Mountains west and, finally, to the south, just enough of the dome of Mount Rainier to confirm a sighting.

Robert Michelson, another online reviewer for the WTA, visited Dickerman in early August. He and his party didn’t get the full 100-mile views because of scattered clouds, but he still saw a lot of the named peaks from the top.

“Big Four, Stillaguamish, Vesper, Sheepgap, Twin Peaks, Forgotten, Little Chief, Sperry and White Chuck,” he wrote. “We saw the big unnamed glacier between Little Chief and Vesper, the ice caves snowfield far below in the valley, Barlow Pass, and big snow patches 1,000 feet or more below us.”

Perhaps the best part of the Dickerman summit is that there is more than one place to stop, kick your feet up and eat a peanut butter sandwich.

Numerous rocky outcroppings invite hiking parties to spread out instead of cramming close together on a single pinnacle.

As the Mountaineers books put it, Dickerman boasts a broad summit, “as friendly a sack-out spot as one can find.”

To me, Dickerman because of its beloved, classic and risky status felt like the ultimate rite-of-passage hike.

Next, I think we’ll try Mount Pilchuck, one of the most visible peaks from Everett.

It’s also known for catching travelers off-guard, but like so many hikers before me, I want to spy it on the horizon as I drive along I-5 in Everett and think, “Wow. I climbed that.”

Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.