With a couple dry days after all that rain we had, I took the opportunity to hike to Dirty Harry's Peak, but first stopping at the balcony. I skipped going to the museum this time.
The trail up to the balcony is in good shape with no issues. This route follows the old Birdhouse Trail. When the trail was updated as the official route to the balcony most of the old bird houses were removed, but then about 6 new pretty bird houses were added (see picture of one bird house). Sadly, I only found two of the newer ones and one of the old bird houses. Does anyone know what happened to others?
After the main balcony I followed the trail toward the museum. This section of the trail has seen many improvements over the years. The turn off for the museum is just before the main stream crossing. The entrance is well indicated by cairns. I chose to go to the peak today and skip the museum, so I had to get across the stream. It is flowing pretty fast right now, but crossing was not really too bad. I made it without falling in. (See picture)
The recent rain melted the recent snows, but then more snow was expected last night. The first snow on the trail started at 4000' elevation. There was only about an inch (or less) at the top. (See picture) The snow could freeze and make the trail a little slick, but I did not have problems today.
There are not many views from the peak, but I could see Granite Creek valley and one of the lakes on the other side of the mountain. (see picture)
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