As always, the trail to Dirty Harry’s Balcony is interesting by virtue of its diversity: the varying pitches of elevation gain, the varying forest (sometimes open floor, sometimes ancient decaying stumps amongst new, sometimes cedars, sometimes hemlocks), the varying type of tread (sometimes roots, sometimes rocks, sometimes soft forest duff) and the varying views of its I-90 neighbors. To this trip, we added even more spice by including a trip to Dirty Harry’s Museum, as well as to the hewn log viewing bench further up the trail toward Dirty Harry’s Peak.

The boot path to Dirty Harry’s Museum is its usual rustic self. Just when you’re wondering if there’s anything interesting in this tangle of forest, voila, around the last bend looms the impossibly perched derelict vehicle. Here, we had our lunch and signed the log. The earliest date is 2009 and the paper is waterlogged. The book is too fragile to explore it for information about who left it. So cool that someone added this artifact to the existing artifact.

Moving onward. Museum Creek, which can sometimes be a whitewater rush, today was a trickle and easily crossed with no rock hopping required. After the Balcony junction, Dirty Harry’s Peak trail is a steep and obvious road-to-trail conversion with abrupt forested slope dropping below the road and high cutbank on the uphill side. While still amazing that such a road could even exist, this is the least interesting part of the trail. Here, the destination is the gem that awaits. Finally, beyond the passage of alder trees and blackberries we encountered an immense block of wood which portended the mighty log with its hewn benches sufficient for at least 12 cozy people and views of McClellan Butte along with the Duke and Duchess of Kent. Surely there’s a story here regarding how the log came into its current shape. Another logging artifact, maybe?? Today, this was our turn around point: 7 miles, 2300’ gain, ~5 hr with a lot of sightseeing stops.

Trail difficulty : Hard and long, so prepare for high BPM.

Trail is not marked all the way so better the bring map or an image for directions.

Footwear: Some parts of the trail were muddy , also a lot of rocks so hike shoes are important.

Clothes : some parts of the trail has high planets so long pants and long shirt are important.

Parking : Discovery pass is needed for close by parking. but there are places to park without it.

Directions : Google maps doesn't bring you to the spot, you should drive a bit further and take a left to the park.

Water : Bring at least 2L.

Pets : This trail not suited for pets.

Seen a lot of mushrooms and mushrooms collectors.

If you are going to do dirty Harry’s peak.  I highly recommend not using the Ira spring connector trail to access the main trail.  It has a lot of steep up and downs after the P3  cut off trail that are very steep.   It is narrow and has lots of root wads and is overgrown in places.  The last mile before reaching the top of. dirty Harry’s peak is very steep with little let up.  But the trail is well maintained   This is a nice workout hike but does not have much in the way of good views. 

This hike had some lovely views, but the trail threw us a few challenges before we could soak them in! We kicked off our hike at 7:50 am, hit the summit around 10:50 am, and got back to the car by 12:50 pm. When we arrived, the parking lot was almost full, and by the time we left, it was packed, even with overflow down the road. This parking lot seemed to be a hub for hikers, climbers, river folks—you name it. So, if you're aiming for a spot, try to get their early. 

The trail itself was in pretty good shape and had a good number of cool sights including views of the highway weaving through the mountains. Once we hit the half-mile mark, the road noise dialed down too. The terrain's a mixed bag—some parts with loose rocks, some with bigger sunken rocks, and a few smoother stretches thrown in. One of the main annoyances was flies. While they didn’t really bite, we did hit a few pockets where they were quite annoying especially closer to the top.

Now, let's talk about the difficulty level, they labeled it as "HARD," and in my option, they weren't kidding. The elevation gain versus the trail length made it most of the trip a steep one. And to be honest that steepness took a bit of the fun out of it. But if you're up for a challenge or want to get in shape for backpacking or mountaineering, this could be right up your alley.  

Once we hit the summit, the view was great, but here's a tip. There is a better view just a few hundred yards before the tippy-top. Through a break in the trees, you’ll get a gorgeous view of Granite Lake, which we thought was much more majestic (see picture).

On our way down, we decided to check out Dirty Harry's Balcony. Compared to what we saw at the peak, it was not as impressive. If you're in for a shorter trip, though, the balcony could be a great choice for a turnaround.

All in all, it was a good hike, however the steepness might've slightly outweighed the summit views!

Since I am interested in logging history, I thought I'd hike up and checkout the so called "museum" on Dirty Harry's Peak (named after logger Harry Gault who logged the mountain with his name). When I arrived at the parking lot there were only three other cars. A light misty rain was coming down, so did not need my rain jacket yet. After crossing the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River on the concrete road bridge, I headed up the Dirty Harry's Peak Trail (DHPT). It starts on an old roadbed before turning into the trail DNR built a few years ago. A short way up the trail is a kiosk with info, and trail maps showing the rock climbing and bouldering areas with side trails. After going up many switchbacks I came to the first viewpoint looking east. Then I got the next viewpoint which is looking west toward North Bend. From here the hand-built trail turns into a machined built trail that is much wider. DNR used a small track hoe for this construction. Further on I came to the Bird Box viewpoint which looks east to Snoqualmie Pass and the surrounding peaks. It was neat to see the clouds swirling around them. I did not see any birdhouses on this hike but saw some a couple of years ago.

When I arrived at the junction with the Ira Spring Connector Trail, and the Balcony Trail I stopped and put on my rain jacket as it was coming down a little harder. The ISCT goes east, and meets up with the regular Ira Spring Trail that goes to Mason Lake and Bandera Mtn. I then headed up the DHPT that meets up with another old log road turned into a trail by the DNR. About halfway up to the Museum is another viewpoint with a big log bench. No big view today with the clouds blowing around, but still nice to see. Parts of this trail are really rocky. When I got near Museum Creek, I was looking for the side trail going uphill to the right. After crossing two small dry creek beds I spotted the side trail. At the unsigned junction is a large rock with a flat top on the left side of the trail. If you get to Museum Creek a little up the DHPT, you went too far. I headed up the steep side trail that in a short time met up with another old logging road going east, now just a trail. Parts of this trail are like hiking in a creek bed with lots of rocks. I came to a switchback in the old road and headed back west still going uphill. Coming around a corner I could see the museum artifact. I had seen photos of it from past reports.

The museum artifact is a 1940's GMC duce and a half WW2 era Army 2.5-ton truck that had been converted into a logging yarder with a steel tower for high lead yarding. The tower was folded down for when the truck would have been driven. In the upright position the tower would have had 5 or 6 guy wires to help hold it in place during the yarding operation. The guy wires would have been anchored to stumps or trees. I noticed the drums for the high lead system for the wire ropes (cables) were missing. The system would have had a diesel or gas engine to power it. This was a small-time yarder compared to larger logging companies with bigger yarders with 75' to 100' steel towers and bigger machines with more power. Back in the 1930's the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company during the steam era of logging had monster yarders that weighed 24 tons with 125' steel towers. These types of machines were built by Washington Iron Works, Willamette Iron & Steel and Liderwood. One of Weyco's Liderwood yarders was on display at the former Camp Six Logging Museum at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. When the museum closed a few years ago the steel tower yarder was moved to a logging museum in Willits, CA.

It had stopped raining when I got to the "Museum", so after taking some photos I found a good flat rock for a lunch time seat. I also had my only wildlife sighting of the day, one Douglas Squirrel came by. When I finished lunch, I headed back down the "trail" to get back to the main DHPT. Made for a fun adventure going to Dirty Harry's Museum. With the wet weather I only saw four other hikers all day down on the lower part of the DHPT.

Parts of the DHPT are rocky, but that is because the trail goes through some rocky areas. I noticed that at some of the trail switchbacks some people have been short cutting them and making new trails. George