John Guilford's Hikes

Perry Creek on 2026-10-20

Date: 2026-10-20

Location: Perry Creek

People: (including myself): Happy Hikers

				Alt.	Miles
Trailhead:		9:15	1890	0
Perry Creek Falls:	11:20	3270	3.2
Leave:			12:00	3270	3.3
Trailhead:		2:15	1890	6.4

It was a beautifully clear autumn day on this hike. The microclimates and temperature varied greatly during the hike.

At the trailhead it was in the upper 30s and chilly. The trail first roughly parallels highway, with some good views of Big Four across the road, before turning up the Perry Creek valley between Mt. Dickerman and Stillaguamish Peak.

As we ascended the valley, we warmed up and started shedding layers. The maple trees were past peak, and the ground was littered with maple leaves, which at times made seeing the terrain features a bit tricky.

The trail up Perry Creek is shaded by Mt. Dickerman for most of its length, though the far side of the valley was lit up by the sun showing nice color.

Torwards the top of the valley a small waterfall on the far side of the valley comes into view as well as an even smaller one above us on our side.

We reached the falls where we found the temperature considerably cooler than it had been just a quarter mile down the trail. We experienced this the previous year when we did this hike. One has to be careful near the falls as there are shear drop-offs next to the trail down to the creek.

Some of us went a bit further upstream to where the trail crosses Perry Creek before ascending to the meadows above. Last year, the crossing was icy and slick, and someone in another group trying to cross ended up falling into the water. This year, however, the crossing was easy. We crossed but then decided not to continue on to the meadows. We recrossed and returned to the falls where we had a chilly lunch.

On the way back down the trail, I again noticed how much colder it was in the vicinity of the falls. At lunch it was 42, but a quarter mile down the trail it had warmed up to 52, a ten degree change. Things warmed up even more when we swung around to the south side of Dickerman and got into the sun again.