Mount Dickerman — Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1998

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The weather was not promising, but we went anyway. The first hour of the hike it drizzled, but not enough to dampen our spirits. The trail became entirely snowcovered in about 1.5 miles. The tread then was pretty solid and we felt we would have a good chance of making it to the summit. The first dangerous gully was crossed without mishap on a pretty solidly packed trail. Past that the trail was not so obvious and some of us decided to head straight us while others turned around to try to relocate the trail. Once the snowshoes were on, the first step on to the undisturbed snow was not comforting. Below the new snow layer was a loose wet layer. After ascending for about 5 minutes in small trees, we sighted the group who had chosen straight up (in others' tracks). They were now putting on their snowshoes and finding the undisturbed snow not very encouraging. We would have to traverse a steep hillside, then cross the 2nd dangerous gully before the terrain became gentle enought to reduce the risk. We regrouped and ate lunch as the drizzle stopped and the clouds lifted, granting us views of the mountains south of us. ,In a hastily dug snowpit an isolated column sheered quite easily about 3 feet down. From our lunch spot Big Four was resplendent. It also made a great noise as we were hiking out.