Mount Rainier – Ohanapecosh and Dege Peak Hike

Some friends had reservations for the Ohanapecosh campground at Mount Rainier National Park for the Labor Day weekend but were unable to make it and offered us their reservation. We wanted to go somewhere but had made no plans so this was a real blessing. After getting some stuff done at the office, we headed out Friday afternoon for the mountain. It took us about a 3 hours pulling the trailer to get to the campground.

After getting everything unhooked and dinner I took the Kids to the Ranger Program where they learned about the non-native plants that are ‘invading’ the park.

Saturday we visited the Sunrise Visitor Center and I took Kevin and Kyle on a hike up to Dege Peak while Von and Kirsten did the Nature Trail hike. The trail to Dege Peak starts at 6400′ and quickly climbs to the Sourdough Ridge Trail that follows the contour of the ridge for about a mile at around 6800′. A sign off the Sourdough Ridge Trail points to you to the last 0.3 miles and up the final climb to 7016’ and Dege Peak.

The hike was about 4.4 miles and took us about 2 hours to complete. Although the total elevation gain was 616’, the ups and downs along the ridge probably made the total round-trip ‘climb’ closer to 1000’.

• More Dege Peak Trial Photos
• All Mount Rainier Photos