The recent stretch of unseasonably warm weather has kept me away from writing trip reports until now. As you can imagine, in case you missed it, the great weather also contributed to ideal hiking conditions last Thursday as we tackled Dirty Harry's Peak: warm, clear and calm, and most importantly - bug-free!
As usual, we parked outside the gate to the road that lead to the Fire Training Center. The walk to the trailhead served as a nice warm-up. The group made good time up the first section of rocky, eroded trail. Past the spur to Dirty Harry's Balcony, we caught glimpses of the views yet to come. The creekbed section of the trail seemed easier to navigate than in the past, even though the run off was in full force. Further along, it was evident that someone had put some hard work on trail maintenance - the rockslide at the switchback now has a well defined trail around it. I kinda miss boulder scramble...
From the talus field, two routes were used with similar results. Route 1: follow the trail switching to the left, or Route 2: climb the talus field then cut over to trail. The latter choice was employed to avoid slogging through the snow as much as possible. The snow did in fact show up fairly soon on the trail, soft enough to make footing a bit difficult, but firm enough to trudge through without fear of postholing every step. By the time Team Talus made the trail, though, everyone was in the snow.
The summit approach is a bit deceiving - you think you're almost there, only to realize you still have a ways to go. The effort was worth it, though. We arrived just in time for sunset, and the visibility was excellent. A few snaps of the camera, and it was time to go!
The hike out was uneventful, though somewhat reminiscent of descending Tenneriffe via the logging road. As soon as we reached the road, we switched our headlamps off and enjoyed gazing at stars (and planets) in the crystal night's sky. Of course, the gate had not been closed yet. A group of teenagers took advantage of this fact to build a campfire at the bridge over the river. There was some debate as to whether we should "close" the gate as we left, but decided against it in the end. :)
----Vital Signs----
Attendees: Chris, Dan, Don, Jorj (Newbie), Maren, Mark, Scott
Dirty Harry's Peak el - 4650 ft Elevation gain - 3400 ft Time at trailhead: 6:00 PM First to Top: 7:50 PM Back to cars: 10:00 PM Next Hike: Mt Si (Old Si trail) Weather forecast is looking kinda wet, hmmm... See ya on the trails, -Mark ---- TNAB ----
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