Dirty Harry's Peak and Balcony via DHPT on 3-14-2025. Happy Pi day!
The weather started off blue skies and sunshine. Some gusty wind blew lots of tree snow onto the trail, and created some really cool lighting and frames for the pups. Around 2200' elevation, the snow pack began to get dense. Where the trail splits for Dirty Harrys Balcony and Dirty Harrys Peak, there were no tracks or footprints. Likely filled in from any previous climbers by the snow drift from the trees. A group of 3 went ahead of me, but I caught up and was trailblazing for about 2 miles up to the peak. Snow was at least 8"+ deep around 2800' elevation.
Trailblazing was hard work, but fun and my two trusty k9 companions followed diligently behind. Near the summit, the snow got steep and deep. I had a few post holes up to my waist. The last quarter mile was a slow slog through thigh deep snow. It didn't look like anyone had been up in a while; the true peak was untouched powder. I followed the small gully (or maybe it's the actual trail) to navigate. A winter storm is blowing in tonight and tomorrow, so the winds were howling. Several times you could see it blowing along the tree line as massive waves of snow were dumped on top of us from above. Tree bombs were a real threat. Near the summit, the gusts were very strong and pretty loud. The dogs were cold, so I snapped a few quick pics, and got us back down. The powder was so soft for a mile and a half or so that we just ran through it (no fall damage on pow day).
Another group of 3 appeared to have turned around about a half mile from where the trail bifurcated. It was definitely a challenging scramble. I would not necessarily recommend taking your dog until it melts out a bit more. I didn't have concern for any avalanche risk, but there were abundant tree wells. I was careful to steer clear of them when making the trail up. It was a wild day! The descent was easy below the heavy snow and uneventful back to the trailhead.
In my infinite wisdom, I left my snowshoes in the car. They would have helped a lot towards the top. Microspikes were not helpful other than for a few steps down from the balcony back onto the trail.
Very underwhelming view at the top, but this was more for climb conditioning. If I had more time and no dogs, I maybe would have explored around a bit up there to see if there were better views through other sections of trees. I was able to snipe a few cool pics of Baker and Glacier Peak though.
If you are able to use my route after the storm blows through, cheers!
Distance: 9.0 mi
Vert gain: 3500 ft
Time: 4.5 hrs
Group: 2 dogs and me
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