Dirty Harry's Peak — Monday, May. 27, 2024

I arrived to a very full trailhead parking lot at 11:00 a.m. but lucked out and found one spot. There were dozens of people on the trail, but fewer than I had expected for a holiday. The trail was steeper than I expected, too, but all the rock stairs made for a nice hike to the balcony. It was muddy in a lot of sections, but nothing that would suck a shoe off. Most of the trail is in the forest, and there weren't many wildflowers.

After the balcony, I only saw a handful of people the rest of the day. There were a few wildflowers blooming (trillium, stream violets, bleeding hearts, and paintbrush), but they were few and far between. Salmonberry is starting to flower.

The museum is a quick side jaunt, but underwhelming in my opinion.

After what felt like an eternity, I reached the lingering snowfields. It's only a tenth of a mile or so, and very slushy--no traction needed.

At the summit, I took a few photos of Granite Lake below, and in the time it took me to eat a bar, fog had covered the whole view! Luckily, in the time it took to eat an apple, the clouds blew away.

With both side trips, I went 9.7 miles. 3 hours up, 2 hours down.