I hiked Mailbox for the first time since winter, my second time ever. I only saw about a dozen other hikers on trail. I started off on the old trail taking most of the shortcuts I saw, then veered off of it a ways up to a less defined bootpath. It went straight up the ridge with very minimal switchbacking. It crosses the new trail before joining the old trail.
The rock steps through the talus field are nicely done. I had the summit to myself for about five minutes and took off when a couple of hikers arrived. I dropped down the ridge towards Dirtybox. Wow, what a fun and challenging ridge it becomes. I loved it.
I recommend it if you frequent Mailbox and want some scrambling practice. There are bootpaths that drop below some of the rocks and avoid some thick trees. Some of them I ignored to stay on the knife edge ridge. Saw quite a few bits of mountain goat fur along the way.
I rested awhile on Dirtybox. The summit register is in an old ammo box. It seemed to be pretty much full. Left my pack here. I hadn't read anything about Dirtybox to Dirty Harry's Peak for months and the only thing I really remember was the mention of cliffs below Dirty Harry's. There are indeed cliffs. I was surprised to see a series of ropes leading up them though.
The 50 feet or so to get to the ropes was very slippery hemlock duff. The old hemlock forest on the ridge leading to Dirty Harry's is much easier to travel through than the dense, younger growth towards Dirtybox. I can clearly see the dividing line in one of my pictures.
The ropes all felt strong and trustworthy as I climbed my way up. Probably wouldn't attempt it without them there. I didn't stay long on Dirty Harry's, I was getting thirsty. I kind of dreaded going down the ropes and scoped out the talus field on the SW side, it becomes steep cliffs. I've never repelled like that, but it was really easy! Just need to be careful. Thanks to whoever has roped that route up.
Relaxed on Dirtybox again, then made my way back to Mailbox. Tempted to stay awhile and watch the sunset. Probably hurried down the rocks a bit too quickly. Unnecessarily hard on my legs. Had a great run down below the talus field until I crossed the new trail and quickly lost my route. Dry, loose and rocky down the old trail. Tough and tedious to run some of it.
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