Dirty Harry's Balcony — Saturday, Nov. 1, 1997

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

This is a resubmittal. Dirty Harry's is to the west of the viewpoint. The trail follows an old logging road for 0.2 miles. There the logging road switchbacks on the way to Mason Lake and Bandera Mountain. A bootleg trail proceeds straight ahead on a good tread and easy grade. At 0.6 miles from the trailhead, the good trail turns right to head uphill to ""Ridge Top."" The trail to Dirty Harry's goes straight ahead and slightly downhill. The way is rough - a boot-beaten track that is brushy in places. There is a pleasant spot as the trail wends its way through a forested flat spot. A spur trail goes out to a view point. This is not Dirty Harry's, which can be seen across a gorge to the west. After the forested flat, the trail gets rough again, finally meeting the trail that comes up from the Fire Academy Road. The spur trail to Dirty Harry's Balcony is to the left. There are many windfalls along the way. There are spots that could be used as campsites in the forested flat, but they would be far from water. This is really best done as a day hike. There are nicer overnight areas. Although not part of the USFS system, this trail is well-built to the 3100 foot elevation on the way to the Mt. Defiance ridge. From that point on, the trail is steep and marked by flags. Now the big question -- who built this trail and why' Send your answers to rangermike@geocities.com