Ira Spring Connector Trail, Web Mountain via Putrid Pete's Peak — Saturday, May. 31, 2014

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

This is the first time this lower section of the West Defiance Trail has been described. This trail has also been referred to as the Defiance Ridge Trail. It is a nicely constructed but abandoned trail that takes off from I-90 at exit 42(Tinkham). Most folks heading to West Defiance (Putrid Pete's Peak, P3) use the shortcut Dirty Harry's Connector trail from the Ira Spring/Mason Lake trailhead and skip this lower section. The lower section is a great early season hike when the upper slopes are still snow covered in say April and early May. It is a nice way to access the East Balcony viewpoint (east of Dirty Harry's Balcony) and Dirty Harry's Balcony. I didn't actually find the lower section of the West Defiance Trail until I hiked it downhill form the Dirty Harry's Connector trail. Finding it from the bottom is a bit difficult but I will describe it in detail. Start at Exit 42 and park on a short spur on the north side of I-90. Walk around cement barriers and go left at the immediate fork (right leads to an illegal shooting range). The trail will soon enter forest and in 100 ft it crosses Mason Creek on a large rotting nurse log. Cross 2 small creeks and immediately after the 2nd creek is a difficult to see trail to the left. That will be the way back from the Lower West Defiance trail. I didn't see this side trail on the way up and I instead followed the more obvious trail that parallels the creek(no idea what the name is). It goes through an interesting mossy 2nd growth forest with very large tree stumps with springboard notches. The creek is loud enough this time of year that you can hardly hear the noise of I-90. This section of trail climbs moderately steeply for 0.5 mi where it emerges onto Mason Lk Rd just east of the Ira Spring/Mason Lk trailhead parking lot. Walk the Ira Spring trail for 0.2 mi and take the unmarked trail off to the left at the first switchback. This is the Dirty Harry Connector trail. After walking 1/2 mi on the Connector trail there is a Y in the trail. The left downhill route is the Lower West Defiance trail(return route). I took the right uphill trail. After a set of switchbacks there is a 2nd Y intersection 0.4 mi from the first intersection (1.7mi from the trailhead). This somewhat subtle intersection is 100ft beyond a large live old growth Douglas Fir on the left and a larger ,tall dead snag immediately to the right of the trail. At this intersection turn right if you are heading for Putrid Pete's Peak (very steep and difficult to follow). I went left (downhill) to get to the East Balcony Viewpoint. The viewpoint is 0.5 mi from this intersection. It is accessed by a faint 100ft long trail that takes off to the left just after traversing a relatively flat crowded forest with sparse understory. The view of McClellan Butte and Dirty Harry's Balcony are nice. You can continue on to Dirty Harry's Balcony from here. I chose to turn back here. The return trip was all about finding the route of the mysterious Lower West Defiance trail. I turned right (downhill) at that first intersection on the Dirty Harry's Connector trail. The nicely graded but seldom used trail switchback down a very steep slope. A lot of effort went into building this abandoned trail. The trail surface is soft and partially moss covered. After going downhill 0.6 mi the trail emerges onto an old road. 0.2 mi later you will pass by some interesting old dynamite sheds. There were likely used for trail construction. 0.1 miles later is an intersection with another old road turned trail. Go left here. 0.25 miles later the trail/road heads left uphill to gain 100 feet. After another 0.25 mi turn left on a single track trail. In 100 ft it will intersect the trail you started on about 100ft from the nurse log bridge. 4.6 miles RT and 1300ft elevation change. My track map (click the map button in the right upper corner and turn on terrain to see a cool shaded topo map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2sGIDMgpw-Tb2R4T2g3a3hjQjg/edit?usp=sharing If anyone knows the history of this trail and why it was abandoned before it was completed, please leave a comment.