My dog and I enjoyed Dirty Harry's Peak and Balcony on a beautiful sunny Tuesday. We started up the trail at 6:35 a.m. and identified 27 bird species (with help from Merlin Bird App and Ebird.org from Cornell U) on our trip. The stream was running pretty high right at the Museum junction; if you stay left and low, you can find a pretty safe way across. My dog balked at it last year but this year it's like he remembered how we got across.

Snow-free trail except for the very last half mile, then hard-pack. I brought microspikes and 2 poles but only used one pole. Bleeding hearts, trillium, and Indian paintbrush are just starting to bloom. We crossed one or two trees but nothing major. The latrine is open and we had the trail to ourselves until we reached the Balcony coming back down. A glorious day and a beautiful shot of McClellan's Butte through the trees.

Trail was mainly dry. Seldom muddy spots. Gorgeous wildflowers spotted throughout the entire hike! snow on top of peak. My friend and I used spikes and had no issues, but also came across others on the peak who had few to no slips while wearing only tennis shoes or hiking boots. Great weather.
minor bugs spotted. Bring sunscreen!

FOUND: Cosmetic product(?) found at the upper lookout at 3,367 ft. about 1 mile before the peak.

Overall, this was a nice hike. Flowers are blooming and views are nice. Trail is snow covered about 400 ft from the top. Would def rec spikes as it's pretty steep. 

I hiked up to Dirty Harry's Peak, stopping at the Balcony and the museum on the way. On my return I took the Ira Spring Connector trail over to the East Balcony, aka, Little Balcony.

I did not encounter snow until around 4300 feet elevation. The trail was step so I put on my micro-spikes. Even with the spikes on, I did slip a little. I hiked down slowly while in the snow due to how steep the trail is.

At the top, I was careful to not step out on the cornice that appeared to exist. I also looked for Mt Rainier but could not spot her.

The trail going to the balcony was once called Birdhouse Trail and had some old birdhouses on trees. When the trail was remade and rerouted many of the old birdhouse were removed and some new ones were put in. Soon most of the new ones disappeared. Today, I only know of two of the new ones that remain. Enclosed in this report is a picture on one of those birdhouses.