Path to the peak is overgrown in several places, sometimes may seem like you've lost the trail. Things get very steep beyond the Balcony. Not the most picturesque climb, though sadly I never did make it to the top of the Peak due to the aggressive bugs (guessing wasps and hornets) attacking me.

Didn't get stung but felt a few bites maybe. Grateful for two sweet gals with a cute fur buddy along the steep climb upwards, who shared some bug spray ... while they weren't as accosted, I had to rush back down the path & settle for the views around the Balcony - retreated around 12pm.

Dirty Harry's Peak is always one of the first Cascade hikes of the summer for me. It's become an annual tradition to kick off the hiking season. The trail is still in great shape, though brushy in spots near the Peak. Snow is long gone. The creek crossing shortly after the Balcony was the lowest I've ever seen it. Wildflowers are mostly over between the trailhead and the Balcony, but there's a lot more in bloom approaching the Peak. I spotted foxglove, paintbrush, lupine, beargrass, and others. Lots of bird activity this time, including some active woodpeckers. Wonderful views from the top: Snowy peaks to the north, a cloud-covered Mt. Rainier to the south, and the Seattle skyline faintly visible to the west. Below, a long construction-related traffic jam snaked for miles on I-90 East. Lots of folks on the trail to the Balcony, but we only encountered one other hiker between the Balcony and the Peak. If you can, go on a weekday afternoon and you'll likely have the summit to yourself.

Hi, We're the Mountain Goats (Terrence) with a special guest Evan, and today we climbed Dirty Harry's Peak. We originally wanted to do Lillian Lake but due to the god-awful traffic heading East on I-90, we decided to get off at Exit 42 and do Dirty Harry's Peak. 

By the time we got to the trailhead around 11:30 AM, it was already starting to drizzle. This trail doesn't pull any punches; after crossing the South Fork of the Snoqualmie you began the unrelenting ascent. After about a mile the trail begins to skirt around cliffs with mini trails going off to various rock-climbing walls. This part of the trail is quite rocky and a bit tricky to navigate on the descent. 

The trail then goes through a series of steep switchbacks before flattening out as you head NE traversing the lower slopes of Dirty Harry. We were greeted with brief breaks in the fog allowing us to gaze upon the valley below and the traffic going East on I-90. 

The trail then heads back into the forest before turning NW and beginning another steep ascent. 3.5 Miles in and at about 3,100 feet you'll cross a creek. This is the one and only spot to pump clean moving water so use it if needed. After crossing the creek, the trail begins to get a bit overgrown, this was quite annoying due to the copious amount of water on the foliage. Luckily this part only lasted for about a quarter of a mile.  
The final mile up to the summit is an ass-kicker as you gain 1000' vertical feet in a little over a mile. The true summit is a bit tricky to find as it is not directly on the trail. Unfortunately, there weren't any views, but it always feels good to summit a mountain. 

Overall, this is a great training hike for those who don't want to deal with herds of people who head up Mount SI and Mailbox. Words of Wisdom from Evan: Thank mother nature and father time for now we begin to climb. Happy Hiking!

Final Stats: 8.2 Miles - 3,300' Elevation Gained - 5:15 Car to Car 

What a hike! This is a trip report for Dirty Harry's peak. We didn't stop at the balcony, nor did we add on other peaks like some of the athletic hikers that have submitted recent reports. 

The first part of the hike was easy. There were some really rocky portions of trail at the beginning, including lots of sets of rock steps. The trail is gentle until it hits the first set of short switchbacks. The grade was appreciable but not challenging. After the first switchbacks you reach the flat part where the spur trail to the balcony is. 

The trail after the balcony is a very long section that rises ahead of you as you start to really climb. The trail was often full of anklebreakers and other slippery rocks. Not the most fun. The rest of the hike was just brutal. When you get past the long section the trail continues to switchback. I almost puked here because I was going too hard. I'm really glad I didn't because right when I burped, and almost lost my breakfast, a hiker appeared. One of the few we saw on the upper reaches. 

I took a breather and continued the switchbacks once my heart had slowed down. I didn't move very fast for the rest, but we did make it to the top with no vomiting. There were some nice spots to break for lunch, but it was cloudy out, so there were no views. We took a long break since it was such a hard hike. 

The upper sections of trail are in bad need of brushing. The trail corridor is really narrow and you have to walk through quite a bit of vegetation. There is also a lot of water flowing over portions of the upper trail. 

5hrs25min car to car including breaks. More like 10 miles than the 7.9 quoted by AllTrails. 

I won’t bore you with the trip up to Mailbox Peak. We took the old trail up. There are a lot of flowers blooming above the Boulder field. Strenuous but straight forward trip to to the top. The fun begins when we set off for Dirty Box Peak. I’ve always wanted to journey over and today was the day. The Dirty Box traverse involves light scrambling and a few hundred foot gain. You will need to route find a little here and there. Although possible to stay on the ridge there are times it’s much safer to go down and around. Getting to Dirtybox was actually easier than I thought it would be. Never did I feel unsafe. After achieving the summit we headed over to Dirty Harry’s Peak. Now the fun begins!  This is very difficult to find the proper way and we often found ourselves in the wrong spot where there are steep drop offs. We went up and we should have gone down. Go down and we should have gone up. Stay on the ridge?  No that’s a huge drop off. There is a point where we should have dropped down to a talus field and if we stayed there it would have been much easier. Knowing what we know now right! Once we finally got to the right talus field which is on the east side as you approach dirty Harry’s it was pretty easy to swing around to the end of it and renter the forest. From here there’s a decent boot path that leads you to the ropes up to the summit. The rope area is steep and you need to exercise caution. Could it be done without the ropes?  Possibly. There are plenty of roots and trees to grab but I felt safer with the ropes wrapped around my arm and wrist as a back up. Up top we enjoyed a summit cider knowing we had a 4.6 walk down to the trailhead where we stashed bicycles. We rode our bikes back to I-90, rode on the freeway and back down Middlefork Road to our car. What a great day. Only choose this route if you are comfortable with route finding, give yourself lots of time, and if you’re comfortable with class3 and at times class 4 scrambling. Be prepared, be safe.