Dirty Harry's Peak — Friday, Dec. 8, 2006

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Lowest part of the trail is mostly free of snow (there is snow along the road at the trail start), but steady snow cover prevails by the Balcony (except the usual numerous places with running water). Snow depth is manageable without snowshoes until beyond the talus slope, but then it steadily deepens and there is no snowshoe trench. I turned around at about 4200', less than 1/2 mile from the top, sinking knee deep into 3 plus feet of soft heavy snow. By then it was snowing hard. Headed down, I met a guy carrying snowshoes who probably had a better shot at the summit. Lower down the snow turned to rain, and combined with running water on the trail I was pretty well soaked by the time I got back to the car.