Mailbox Peak Sunrise Hike, July 2017

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Mailbox Peak
Date: July 30, 2017
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 5.3 miles / 8.4 Kilometers round-trip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet / 1,219 meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Linna Freeman, Matt Kerby, Craig Schilling and my Wonderdog Macho

My third trip to the famous Mailbox Peak and my fourth sunrise hike this year. Linna and I woke up at 1:15 a.m. this morning to meet Matt Kerby and Craig Schilling at the Mailbox Peak lower parking lot at 2:45 a.m. and started hiking the old trail at 3:04 a.m.

If you think it’s tough staying on the trail during the day, it’s worse in middle of night. Craig got a little behind in the group and found himself off-trail so he started hiking straight up to our lights that was illuminating from our headlamps. The white diamonds sporadically located in the trees came in useful…they would shine like stars once your headlamp hit them.

We made it up in 2 1/2 hours and even had to wait for the sun to show it’s face. We had the summit, sunrise and the mailbox to ourselves until we had our fill. We headed back the same way as we came up…old trail baby. I have descended the new longer trail and it just feels forever and I rather get the pain over with on the shorter steep old trail.

2 thoughts on “Mailbox Peak Sunrise Hike, July 2017”

  1. hi there! i hope this reaches you in time. i’m super interested in hiking Mailbox Peak to watch the sunrise but was wondering how to go about parking and getting to the trailhead. i see the lots open at 7am, so where did you guys park and start your hike?? also, would you hike this alone? i’m going solo, and during the day i don’t think i would have any issues, but how about in the dark… your thoughts? thank!
    p.s. awesome pictures!
    -Russ

    Reply ↓

    • Hey Russ, those awesome pictures are usually taken by my wife or a good friend that we usually hike with. During this hike we were able to park off right off the road in the paved area before you go up to the main parking lot, but I noticed last time they took some of the asphalt parking used it for shuttle drop off. But I think there is still some open spots.

      For sure you can hike alone, many people do it daily. I recommend the old trail…it steep, but quicker!

      Good Luck…

      Freeman

      Reply ↓

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