I was planning to do a solo Three Fingers jaunt on Saturday, but foggy weather made me cancel.  Luckily Sunday was spectacularly sunny and clear.  It was getting late and the Fingers was out of the question, so I figured I could get in Mt. Dickerman in comfortable time to get back home at a decent time. 

I noticed that Mountain Loop Highway was a little more busy than i've ever seen it.  People are really starting to discover this place out here, and I don't know if that's a good thing.  Got to the Dickerman trailhead at 12:30pm, there were 10-12 cars in the lot, so plenty of action today.  I quickly stretched and headed up.  This time I wisely decided to hold off on the sunscreen.  Heck, the first hour at least will all be in the shade, why bother when i'll just only sweat it off.  The trail was in great shape, I wonder if WTA got up here and did some repairs. 

I was cruising up the trail too.  I didn't have to stop once the entire way up.  Well when I got to the first meadow I took a couple of nice pics.  Big Four, Vesper, Sperry, and Morningstar were all looking great!  The only other time I had been up Dickerman was when there was a good amount of snow, so actually seeing the meadows and trail uncovered was a treat. 

The flowers were in bloom.  Certainly not the most bright or colorful flowers but the sheer amount in attendance more than made up for that.  On a great day like today it was all gravy. 

I got the summit and there were quite a few people hanging out. I was hoping that it would have cleared out a bit this late in the day.  Well, 2:30pm was still early.  It took me 2 hours to get up, no stopping.  I found a nice rock all to my own.  I crept close to the cliff edge and admired the nice drop down.  Though there were a few people most everybody was quiet, just enjoying the solitude.  

I briefly talked to a French (?) gentleman about Colorado.  Then a nice Russian fellow took a summit shot of me, and we talked about Mt. Elbrus (the highest peak in Russia) a bit.  

The views were great as usual.  I could see Baker, Glacier, and Rainier as clear as day.  Three Fingers was off to the west, just teasing me!  I'm glad I got to do this hike today, definitely the right time to get up to Dickerman.

8.6 miles roundtrip

Trailhead - 2000ft

Summit - 5723 ft

Gain - 3723 ft

Time - 3.5 hours, 2 hours up, 1.5 hours down