Aunt Birdie picked me up on this beautiful Sunday morning, and we met with Dad at Charlie's for the usual great breakfast. Before long we were up at Sunrise Point to begin our short hike. There weren't too many people on the Sourdough Ridge Trailwhich leads from Sunrise Point to Frozen Lake, passing Dege Peak along the way, whose summit lies a scant 1/3 mile off the main trail. Here you can see Clover Lake, which we passed on the previous week's hike, and then Sunrise Lake, just below the parking lot at Sunrise Point.



As you can see, the view from the top of Dege Peak is spectacular! Mt. Adams looms in the distance, Grand Park lies in the opposite direction, Mt. Freemon lookout can be seen, and naturally there Sunrise lodge with Rainier behind. There was quite a population of large flies hovering around the summit, but they didn't seem to both me too much. We had a little snack and enjoyed the scenery for a while before heading down. We made a spur of the moment decision to walk up to the lodge instead of heading back to the car. With the completion of this hike, I have now walked on every part of Sourdough Ridge! Coming into the lodge, we were greeted by the usual hordes of people, but we still managed to complete the entire hike without being passed by a single hiker! Dad grabbed a ride down to Sunrise Point from a couple fellow hikers so he could bring the car back to get us. Birdie and I had had a soft ice cream cone of sorts, while Dad had a Pepsi, in the cafeteria. A nice end to another great hike!