Miles: 6.4/13.2 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 4100ft/5945ft
Map: Green Trails Sloan Peak No 111, my GAIA
Favorite Eats After Hike: LJs Bistro & Bar, Mirkwood Public House, Creekside Ale House, Glorybucha Microbrewery, River Time Brewing, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
My hike:
9/18/2018
Is it terrible to say that I hiked to Perry Creek Falls 7-8 years ago but don’t remember anything but the group I hiked it with? I know we didn’t hike the all the way to Mount Forgotten because we definitely didn’t scramble anything but you would think it would have been at least a tiny bit familiar.
Nope.
My good friends Mark and Sarah invited me to hike mid-week and the night before we settled on Perry Creek Falls and Mount Forgotten. This hike starts in the same parking lot as Mount Dickerman now that they have closed the Perry Creek Road adding a few miles to the trip.
Leaving the parking lot at 8:30 am, the trail began rather mundane and mild, leaving me to wonder when the elevation gain of over 4000 feet would begin. Yes, I was a little worried.
After about a mile and less than 100 feet of gain, we came out where the Perry Creek Road had originally run to the trailhead for Perry Creek and turned to hike up the valley. The sign for the trail appeared in about a quarter mile and we began a contoured ascent along the base of Mount Dickerman. The sun was just beginning to brighten the shadowed terrain and we could see trickling fall cataracts spilling down the steep slopes to our right over dark slabs of rock. A bare Hall Peak anchored the view behind us as we made our way along moss covered boulders and pumpkin patch hued vine maples.
The trail alternated between the forest and talus fields for a little over 2 miles until we reached the rushing Perry Creek running through a narrow gorge causing a cascade of falls. The trail runs right above with very little clearance, it was a good spot to watch one’s step. We paused briefly to enjoy the spray before moving on. We had a summit to scramble and had only gained about 1300 feet so far.
With just a chance amount of rain this month so far, the mushrooms had what they needed to begin emerging in earnest. I have limited knowledge but Sarah was sure she was spotting King Boletes to harvest on our return trip. I was just excited there were still plenty of wild blueberries to be plucked as we began switchbacks towards the Mount Forgotten meadows. There was a nice viewpoint 5 miles into our hike and we could see our summit off in the distance. This would make for a lovely campsite if someone wanted to make a night of it. White Chuck, Sauk, Baker and Shuksan, to name a few, were partially obscured behind clouds slowly being burned away on the horizon as we paused again to enjoy the panorama and ponder if we would make it all the way to the top of Mount Forgotten.
We broke out into the meadows area at 5,238 feet in just another quarter mile where the ground huckleberries foliage was just beginning to take on its fall tones and the vista opened up. The surface of a small tarn reflected Glacier Peak and clear blue skies, drawing us to peer into its depths. We wove our way over on social trails, avoiding stepping on the soft grass to a rock outcropping to get a better view of the Mountain Loop Highway and the Sauk River snaking below. Pugh, Spring, Bedal and Sloan lined up on the other side, freed from their winter white coats.
Stopping for lunch, we talked about whether or not we would continue on. The summit of Mount Forgotten appeared to “right there”, so we decided to give it a shot as it was only a few minutes after noon. If you are not into scrambling, this is the perfect place to turn around.
From the meadows, the trail continued over to a saddle and this is where we lost Sarah. As in, she decided continuing was not for her. The trail became more of a climber’s bootpath that literally went straight down over rock and root. We told her we would just see how far we got and she told us to take our time. She had plans for enjoying the solitude at the meadows…
In about 50 feet the trail did level out temporarily at a junction with one path staying up on rock and another continuing directly down on soft dirt and roots. I checked out the higher route but it simply ended at a rock outcropping so down the dirt path it was. Luckily, this didn’t last long before turning and beginning a rollercoaster ride of veggie belay through trees and scree as we made our way around the southeast contour of the mountain for about .8 miles, a bit longer than I had anticipated. We had seen a group ahead of us and wondered at their slow pace which now made so much more sense. Both Mark and I slipped at least once, losing a leg (or Mark’s case, two) down the outslope of the barely there trail before catching ourselves, thankfully without much descent.
The trail came out to an open rock field at 5,440 feet with a dwindling tarn fed by a shrunken snowfield hiding in the shadows of two towering cliffbands forming a gully to our left. Hmmm…I guessed that was where we were going as we still had a supposed 750 feet or so to gain to reach the summit and the map showed the trail turning to the northwest here.
The gully was filled with loose rock and sliding switchbacks so we spaced ourselves so as to not be in a single line as we carefully made our way up. The ascent wasn’t long and we soon came out to a bootpath once again through open heather meadow. It was less than a quarter mile before we reached another landing right below the rocky summit where a Mountaineers group was making their way down.
The views laid out before us through a jutting jumble of slabs spotted with lime and orange colored lichen and we waited our turn to ascend the last 15 feet or so. Once up on the summit, it was clear it was broken into two parts with the register sitting over on the further summit with a gap to maneuver that would require some serious exposure. I could hear mark behind me say something about having gone as far as he was going to go and I had to agree with him. I hadn’t brought my helmet and had no desire to go it by myself. Besides, there is plenty of information online to say that the first summit is actually the higher one and from where I was the second didn’t look any higher. (The Mountaineers consider this a T4 scramble).
So, we enjoyed the 360 views for a few minutes before I started feeling guilty about the time we had left Sarah by herself as it was almost 2pm at this point. We made our way back down the gully and along the slope, this time seeming to move along at a quicker pace.
We were back at the meadow to collect Sarah who had scrambled the knob close by and enjoyed a snooze in our absence. The hike out towards Perry Creek Falls from Mount Forgotten was uneventful but the glow of the afternoon sun in the Perry Creek valley was magical as it filtered through the yellowing moss cloaked deciduous trees and would be worth a revisit alone. Our rapid descent had us back to the cars by 5:30, a longer day than expected but so worth it!
Directions: From SR 9, head east towards Granite Falls. Drive through town and follow the Mountain Loop Loop east (turning left at the T intersection). In 10 miles continue past the Verlot Ranger Station and then it is 16.3 miles to the large trailhead parking on the left for signed for Mt. Dickerman just past the Big Four Ice Caves area. You can, also, come from Darrington and head south on the Mountain Loop towards Barlow Pass. There is a privy and you will need a Northwest Forest Pass.
You can check out my Mountain Loop Highway Page for more hikes and snowshoes in the area!
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