Dirty Harry's Peak

What a hike. Started at the parking area and walked up the paved road to the old "Dirty Harry" logging road, which is so overgrown, it's more like a rocky trail. Even though my wife and I were going for the summit, we couldn't resist the side trail to the balcony. It added some mileage and elevation gain to an already long hike, but it was worth it. After hiking back to the old "road," we continued up. It was rocky the entire way, and the higher we got, the wetter it got. At times, it felt like we were hiking up a rocky stream. At about 3,600', not far from the turnoff to the left, we saw our first patches of snow. We postholed in a few spots, but for the most part it was nicely packed. Had to do some tree ducking in some spots. We brought crampons and ice axes (more for training with the weight than anything), and as expected, we didn't need them. Snowshoes might have been overkill (glad I didn't lug mine up). Gaiters and poles were nice to have, though. Views were about as great as I imagine they get from that summit. Bluebird weather day. Glad I didn't squander it! Took us 3 hours up and 1:45 down.