The weekend before last, Adam, Shawn, and I set off to attempt The Three Dicks, a relatively obscure but rugged three-summited mountain on the edge of North Cascades National Park. According to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, The Three Dicks are (is?) officially known as The Triad, but folks in the know call them by their original name, The Three Dicks, which was bestowed by the 1949 first ascent party, which included three men named Richard. Apparently, however, “The Three Dicks” was deemed unsuitable for the delicate sensibilities of the midcentury American public, and so we ended up with the diluted “Triad.” A shame.
The Three Dicks are an engorged hunk of rock on the high ridge between two more well known mountains. To the northwest is Eldorado Peak, a classic NCNP mountaineering objective, while to the southwest of The Three Dicks sits Hidden Lake Peaks, which, while lower in elevation than The Three Dicks, has a Instagram horde-summoning fire lookout and an easy trail. The Three Dicks, on the other hand, seems to see only a handful of ascents a year, and has relatively little information available about it online. Nonetheless, I had wanted to climb it for years, and I thought that it was a truly delightful climb that ought to be a classic: short approach, beautiful ridge walking, a tasteful amount of off trail travel, and a clean, easy, and incredible exposed scramble to reach the summit. A taste of the full North Cascades experience, no suffering required.
In a fit of quintessential Weld-boys last-minute planning, I talked Adam into joining, and he talked Shawn into joining as well. The three dudes were assembled and ready to take on The Three Dicks. However, before we even left town, I threw our team into disarray. I wanted to catch the sunset and sunrise from up high, but Adam and Shawn had Friday evening commitments, so I set out by myself, with plans to bivy solo on the ridge and link up with the two remaining dudes Saturday morning.
I set out from the Hidden Lake Peaks trailhead under more-overcast-than expected skies, and quite tight on time to reach my intended viewpoint before sunset. I cruised up the trail then headed up towards Sibley Pass (rather than climbing the drainage directly, go a few dozen yards further along the trail, then find a climbers path which goes all the way to Sibley Pass), enjoying the lovely array of flowers strewn across the hillside. As I approached the pass, the sun burst out of the clouds to the west, and cast beams of light down into the valley below.