The History
Dirty Harry's Balcony (and Peak) got their names from Harvey Manning, the prolific author of numerous Mountaineers guides. Back in the 1970s, Manning discovered Dirty Harry's Logging Road that led to these areas on a Washington State Department of Transportation map and incorporated it into his trail guides. The real "Dirty Harry" was local logger Harry Gault, whose friends nicknamed him after Clint Eastwood's iconic character due to his rugged, no holds barred, approach to harvesting timber.
The Hike
It’s steep with a few patches of flatter terrain. Not until you get near the balcony does it mellow out. I hiked this in the early 2000s when it was just an ill-defined scramble up the mountain. Now it’s very well established and maintained. There are signs here and there but if you get confused, just look for stairs or lopped off trees that mark the path.
Very friendly trail (9/10) - I took off a point for the bags of dog poop bags lying around in search of the owners.
The Flora and Fauna
It was very windy, so few animals out. Just heard Pacific Wren and chickadees.
Comments
DK1998 on Dirty Harry's Balcony
IIRC Harry Gault got his nickname of "Dirty Harry" from the horrible mess he left behind after every logging operation. He wasn't exactly a friend of the environment.
Posted by:
DK1998 on Feb 26, 2025 07:22 PM