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Trip Report    

Snow Scramble - Mount Dickerman

A winter route ascent with snow scrambling from 4300' to the summit.

Jim Griffing Jim Griffing
May 14, 2025
  • Tue, May 13, 2025
  • Mount Dickerman
  • Scrambling
  • Successful
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The trail has several blowdowns over the first mile.  They are easy to get around or over.

    Snow started at 4200' and was continuous from 4300' to the summit.

    The stream at 4200' had snow on both sides - it looks like a snow bridge over it recently collapsed.  The snow makes the crossing a bit more difficult than it usually is.

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    Snow on both sides makes this stream crossing more interesting

    I followed the winter route.  The snow in the gulch is starting to get thin in places over the stream that flows underneath.  The winter route is still viable if one uses caution.

    Snow cover above 4300' was great for kicking steps.  An ice-ax is necessary due to the steepness of the route.

    There is a cornice on the summit so remember to stay well back from the edge.  The photo below is the overlook just past the summit, but a similar cornice exists at the summit. The photo was taken from the summit.

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    Cornice at the overlook just past the summit

I hiked the standard trail in fog and light mist on a Tuesday morning.  There were two cars at the trailhead when I arrived at 9 AM.  Except for the blowdowns noted in the conditions report, the trail is in good shape up to the snowline.

I scrambled the winter route using an ice ax and mountaineering boots.  Conditions were excellent with no need for microspikes or crampons.  The fog persisted all the way to the summit.  I encountered a scrambler descending at around 5000' - he told me the worst part was behind me.

Near the summit I saw another scrambler ahead of me.  I did not catch him until he stopped at the top.  It turned out that I knew this person - he taught me to rappel when I was a climbing student!

Doug told me that he was going to descend the summer route to start building a boot path to help future hikers find the route before the snow completely melts.  This seemed like a good idea since the snow on the winter route is deteriorating. I followed Doug down the summer route to help make a better boot path.

Car-to-car time was 5 hours and 30 minutes including my short lunch at the top.  Total distance was 7.8 miles (a bit longer on the way down since I took the summer route).