Today's goal was for Putrid Pete's Pk via the Mason Lk Trailhead. This was my third attempt at this obscure Pk., that lies between Mt. Defiance and Dirty Harry's Pk.. My attempt last month was halted due to lack of motivation, so today's mindset was a bit more deadset. The weather was cool and windy making the upper portions a bit slippery. I was able to follow the climbers trail to approx 4200ft and then just scrambled the path of least resistance to the summit at 5335. The last bit was a little tedious due to the shattered rock and slippery surface due to the earlier rain. I just tagged the summit and retraced my steps back down without even a moments hesitation. I had a bit of trouble locating the point of the trail where it re-enters the forest. I dropped straight down until I reached the creek at around 3600ft I then angled more easterly and with much relief reaquired the trail around 3300ft. The descent provided some tense moments due to the steepness and lack of good footing. I was suprised that my time up was (1:50) was the same as my descent time. It shows the care that must be taken in descending in these types of condition.

This trip starts on the Mason Lake/Bandera trail but offers an almost wilderness experience except for the sounds of the freeway and the shooting range across I-90. Take a faint trail at the first sharp right turn in the road past the trail head and keep right. The trail is actually in pretty good shape and flagged, but becomes rough higher up. After losing the tread, we shot straight up to the steep slopes below the summit. From I-90, this peak looks like the highest point on the ridge that includes Dirty Harry's Peak and MailBox. In reality, the point just west looks to be 100' or so higher. Only a few people had signed the summit register this year that contains a picture of Pete and a copy of Turtle Island by Gary Snyder. The views were spectacular and we almost walked over to Defiance but decided to go back down were we found a better ""trail"" that lead us back to the main trail. Who is this Putrid Pete? Was he a friend of Dirty Harry? 2 hours up from 2,200' to 5,335'.

I had hoped today to summit Putrid Petes Pk, or as I have sometime seen it called Web Mt. This peak is Pt 5335 which lies between Mt Defiance and Dirty Harry's Pk.. I chose to use the Mason Lk trailhead,there is a trail that leaves the logging road at the first switchback. This trail is not mantained but is easy to follow after about a mile the trail splits with the lower branch going to Dirty Harry's balcony and on the logging road that starts on the Fire Academy access road. I took the upper trail which climbs to Putrid Pete's Pk.. The trail becomes less and less obvious as you climb, there is more than enough flagging to show the way. The trail becomes very steep above 4000ft, I climbed to around 4400ft where I became a bit concerned about my descent. After some deliberation I decided that I would make my tedious descent. Since I mostly solo climb it is not unusal for me to turn back, I usually feel good about my choices. Today however I feel like I really should have pressed on. The grade seems to ease somewhat and with less than a 1000ft to go I really wish I would have kept on. I guess that is what is so great about being able to go out as much as I do, there is always next week.

From the Mason Lake trail head we hiked to Putrid Pete's Peak (AKA West Defiance?) via a trail that is not on my map that goes straight when the Mason Lake trail takes its first sharp right at about 1/4 a mile from the parking lot. At the fork below a few big rocks, we went right up the ridge. The trail starts dissappearing once it breaks out of the trees, although there are still surveyor's flags for a while, the idea at this point is to simply go straight up. Much of the ascent is very steep but it also has excellent views. The top is a pile of rock with very impressive 360 degree views. We signed the peak register, took in the sights, had lunch, shivered in the wind, and then headed off. From Putrid Pete's Peak we hiked east across the ridge to Mt Defiance. We hiked some of this on the side of the ridge instead of the top, which was very tough on my knees. Eventually we met with the trail, then took a left branch (not on my map) that led to the top of Mt Defiance. We had more lunch and admired more great views. From Mt Defiance's peak headed for Mason Lake. After passing Mason Lake we took the new Mason Lake/Bandera trail, which is finally open. As far as trails go, this one is a highway, wide and flat. Trail head to Putrid Pete's Peak: 2 hours and 45 minutes. Putrid Pete's Peak to Mt Defiance and back to trail head: 5 hours.

At 9:15 I started from the parking area near exit 38 E outside of the gate. I walked up road to Dirty Harry's Logging Road, and took the trail off of the logging road towards Dirty Harry's Balcony (the trail is marked by an old Pennzoil can on the end of a stick). Soon the Dirty Harry's Balcony trail splits, to the right (west) is the Balcony, I went left (east) on a nice trail which is not on the map. A couple miles east this trail forks (near some large rocks with McClellan Butte at approximately 215 degrees), the upper fork leads to Putrid Pete's Peak (West Defiance) and the lower fork leads to the Mason Lake trail head. I headed towards Putrid Pete's Peak. After a mile or so of switchbacks I broke out of the trees, ahead was a long, steep ridge with many patches of snow. From there it was a tough, steep scramble without a trail, soon even the orange trail ribbons petered out (whose numbers until then were uncountable). No worries, I needed to do was burn through all my reserves of energy going straight up to the peak. There's a little plastic box at the top with a photo (of Putrid Pete?), some poetry, and a registry. There are also some very nice views. I considered continuing across the ridge to Mt Defiance, but decided it looked too slippery with snow/rocks, maybe later in the year. The trail was fairly unpopulated, it was nice Sunday and I only saw three other people on the trail. The ridge scramble is not something that I'd be comfortable doing alone. Not only is the final ascent fairly untraveled, but it is steep and has poor footing, you may fall for a while before stopping, or you may simply twist your ankle while coming down. I would not have gone up to Putrid Pete's Peak if I hadn't met another hiker on the trail with the same goal. I returned to my car at 5:30 PM.