Headed up to Dirty Harry's Balcony before feelings spontaneous and continuing on to Dirty Harry's Peak on a beautiful, clear winter day!
There is no snow on the way to the balcony, but remember to check the weather before you leave! Roughly 1/2 a mile past the balcony the snow began. It was packed down pretty well and relatively slick for the rest of the way. We had to leave two members behind because one was wearing running shoes with bad traction and could not get a grip on the snow at all. The only gear we had were hiking boots, but everybody we passed had microspikes and poles (for context, we are a group in our early 20s). For the last 1/2 mile the snow was roughly knee height but somebody had already cut a trail up the mountain that was very easy to follow. The top was beautiful, especially with the perfect clear day!
The one problem was that we started the hike at 11:20, thinking we were going to only hike to the balcony. When we decided that it was such a beautiful day that we wanted to keep hiking and just see how far we could get (after seeing previous trip reports on WTA about breaking through hip-height snow, etc. we didn't think we'd get far), actually making it to the top was not something we were expecting to do. As a result, we had to hike for roughly an hour in the dark with phone flashlights before getting back to the trailhead at 5:30. Be more prepared than us if you think there's even a chance you may hike after sunset and bring headlamps!
Dirty Harry's Peak will likely be getting a lot of snow in the coming weeks so try to hike it ASAP! Fabulous, stunning views.
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