Arrived at the TH at 9:00 am. Not very many cars. Good day for a hike with my lab, Khumbu! Very few people on the trail this morning.

Arrived at the TH at 9:00 am. Not very many cars. Good day for a hike with my lab, Khumbu! Very few people on the trail this morning.

As I left Dirty Harry's Museum, the trail became pretty steep. It's littered with rocks the whole way up to the summit of Dirty Harry's peak. When I got to the Web Mountain connector trail, my plan was to carry on to Web Mountain, come back and summit DHP. When I saw how overgrown the trail to Web Mountain was, I nixed those plans and carried on towards the summit of DHP. And I'm really glad I decided not to try Web Mountain.

Hiking up DHP was tough. There aren't really any switchbacks to even out the elevation gain. It's just a trail that snakes its way up to the summit. The good thing is; there is plenty of shade throughout the hike and the summit is even pretty well guarded from the sun. 

Eventually the trail smoothed out as I neared the top and it was a gentle hike with a nice summer breeze to cool me down as I made my approach. The trail is slightly overgrown in places, (as well as down by the Web Mountain connector) but nothing serious as of right now. 

I shared the summit with one other person and passed SeattleNoDaker and his dog, Khumbu, ( I also passed them going down near the Little Balcony). Very pretty dog, and very well behaved. I rested at the summit for about 10 or so minutes as I sucked down some Vitamin Water, ate some granola and stared at Granite Lake down below. 

The trip down was awful. Descending really puts in perspective how steep the trail going up really is. Plus, the rocks on the trail do not help. I kept stepping on rocks, kicking them down the trail and I'd step on them again causing myself to nearly trip and fall. It was constant pounding on the knees, rolling of ankles and tripping over loose rocks and sliding in loose soil. I suppose I'm exaggerating but it seemed like I was constantly slipping and sliding everywhere. I was glad to make it down to the bridge for a 30 second road walk before making it back to the parking lot. I was exhausted.

It was a tough hike, indeed but worth every minute out there. 

*Left my favorite hat on the trail today!*

Hi! I left my favorite hat off to the side of the trail when my friend and I stopped for a break on the way up today. I remember my Apple Watch saying it was about 3.11 miles in, however accurate that may be. It’s a tan, flat-billed hat with a teal Patagonia emblem on the front with some other teal features.

The spot we had lunch was just a bit passed the creek you have to walk through and up toward the top of that stretch, and we hopped onto some rocks to the left (if you’re facing up the trail) where there was a little bit of a view.

If you are heading up today or in the coming days, would so appreciate keeping an eye out!! Feel free to send me an email at studleyemma@gmail.com or comment here if you find it! Thank you!!

Beautiful day and hike by the way, enjoy!

Dropped off a car at DH trailhead and went to Mailbox. Parking lots were both full at 8am and we had to park down the road by Granite Creek parking. Uneventful up to Mailbox via old trail. Trip to Dirtybox was reasonable along the ridge mostly. After Dirtybox, it was a loootttt of bushwhacking, route finding, and questionable mix of dirt/rocks/moss/trees. Intermittent cairns and pink flagging was not frequent enough to really be useful. Made it to DHP and made it uneventfully down. Strava logged as just over 5500 ft gain and 10.2 mi. All snowfree and lots of berries by where we parked