Dirty Harrys Peak (4,720ft)
The view of Rainier from the summit
Jan 15, 2019
Eric Gilbertson
I left town around 10am and started hiking up the trail at 11am. Last year Katie and I had tried to hike Dirty Harry, but we hadn’t done much research and with the confusion of the old trail being decommissioned and the new trail not being created yet, we got lost in a maze of rock climbing approach trails and switched objectives.
This time the new trail is in great shape, with many signs. I parked at the Dirty Harrys Peak lot, walked across the bridge, and turned up the trail immediately to the right. The trail was snow free up to about 4,000ft, and I could have gotten away with trail runners instead of my mountaineering boots if I had known.
I passed a few people hiking down, and I reached the top around 1pm. The snow was a few feet deep, but the trail well packed down. Microspikes were very helpful. I was treated to excellent views of Rainier, Seattle, and the Olympics in the distance. I made it back down by 3pm and then drove back to Seattle.
© 2019, egilbert@alum.mit.edu. All rights reserved.
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