Our group of five hikers visited Dirty Harry's Peak on a beautiful end-of-winter day. There was an inch or so of fresh snow on the trees all the way down to the trailhead, and much more up top - super pretty. On our return, the snow was melting off the trees fast in the warm afternoon sun - snow bombs aplenty.
TRAILHEAD AND PEOPLE: No issues on the road, and the bathroom is open. We only saw three other parties on the mountain all day, all solo hikers.
DIRTY HARRY'S BALCONY: We didn't visit the "proper" balcony, but stopped at two or three of the lower viewpoints, which in my opinion have just as nice of a view, and a safer place to stand in winter conditions. There is still some snow on the trail in the trees, which might get icy if it freezes. We did fine with just poles, but I'd recommend carrying spikes just in case. With the melting snow, the trail is muddy in quite a few places, so waterproof footwear is very helpful.
DIRTY HARRY'S PEAK: This was our main objective for the day, and it did not disappoint! We used just our boots up to Dirty Harry's Living Room, where we put on snowshoes for the rest of the way up. We had lunch in the sun at the excellent southwest-facing viewpoint at the west end of the summit area. It took a bit of effort to get through the 2'+ of untracked snow over to this viewpoint - worth it. As always, stay well back from the north edge of the summit, there is a big cliff that drops down at least 150', or more like 600' on the eastern side.
On our way back, we wore our snowshoes all the way down to Museum Creek, which worked well. Waterproof boots make the creek crossing easy, poles also very helpful.
SNOW: The snow was perfect for snowshoeing. Soft enough that we could lay in a nice track without ridiculous amounts of effort. I would say there was maybe 6" of snow around Museum Creek, about 1' at the living room, and probably 5-6' at the summit. The track we laid in may work OK without snowshoes now, but probably not on a warm day.
The south-facing talus slopes above the DHP / Web Mountain junction are NOT an avalanche concern right now. The rocks are only about half covered, so there is not enough snow to slide. From a distance, we could see there is much better coverage on the north-facing talus slopes of Web Mountain, which are also a bit higher.
Comments
My team had completed and track you guys laid was very helpful even though snowing all day today (3/20). We also stopped by the Museum as well as Balcony along with few viewpoints. We sat down and had a lunch at bench like your last picture. I am sure Hon Chon will know this very soon thru my FB.
Posted by:
Chong Lee on Mar 20, 2025 10:31 PM
Nice! Glad to hear it is still snowing up there, the snow pack could use some help this year!
Posted by:
ALW Hiker on Mar 20, 2025 10:53 PM
Thank you for laying down a track! I met your group as you were coming down - I was the single hiker going up. Even with the track laid, that was a tough hike. Gorgeous steely blue/grey skies though at the top. I'll try to get a trip report up tomorrow.
Posted by:
manyfires on Mar 20, 2025 11:41 PM
Yes, it's one of those that always seems longer than the stats would suggest. Or maybe that's just because I've only done it in the snow. :)
Posted by:
ALW Hiker on Mar 21, 2025 08:56 AM
Thank you for the report. I've explored this area many times, but this is first I am learning of the Living Room. What part/point is this on the trail? Is it on the way to the Bathtub? Thanks.
Posted by:
Dream Delay on Mar 21, 2025 03:36 PM
The "Living Room" is just a tongue-in-cheek name for the mapped viewpoint at 3400'. There are large logs with seats for five people - (2 + 2 + 1), i.e. a "sofa" or "loveseats"! :) It's just below the junction to the Web Mountain / Bathtub trail.
I don't recall where I first heard it. There is a chance I made it up, since the only reference I can find is my trip report from last year, ha ha.
Posted by:
ALW Hiker on Mar 21, 2025 03:47 PM
Ah! I've sat there. Well done! :)
Posted by:
Dream Delay on Mar 21, 2025 04:09 PM