Left Shoreline at 3:50 am and arrived at the Staircase parking lot about 6:10am. Walked through the Shady Lane trail and then past vacation residences before getting to the Dry Creek trail. The trail follows the lake for a bit offering pretty views. Soon the trail turns into the Dry Creek drainage and follows the creek course at a distance, through unremarkable woods. In a few miles the trail crosses the creek, so one must wade or clamber across the many logs spanning the water. Thereafter the woods are older and picturesque. Only one blow down of note and that is easily circumvented. The trail ascends to a small saddle as it enters the Lebar creek drainage. From here one can turn back and see a slice of Lake Cushman, and to the south Lebar creek drainage and clearcut hills beyond. The trail continues to climb to a true saddle south of Dry Mt. From here, I followed the spine of the ridge leading north to Dry Mt. This route is noted in teh climbers guide and is pretty civilized; there is even evidence of ""trail"" maintenance from long ago in the form of sawed logs and clipped saplings. For the most part, though, one must follow the path of least resistance through brush and over rocks to make the fairly open top of Dry Mt. I arrived at the top at about 10:30 AM, maybe 20-30 minutes from the saddle where I had left the trail. An old firepit and pile of garbage can be found at the ""summit"" of about 4500'. When I arrived the air was fairly clear and I could see to the south and east Hood Canal, a sliver of the sound, and a glimpse of the Cascades, all beyond the clearbut hills of the SE Olympics. To the north of course the full extent of the Olympics, with the jagged ridge of Lightning Peak being most prominent in the foreground, and Sawtooth Ridge and Cruiser rising just beyond. This didn't last long as the promised clouds rolled in slowly from the south and it began to sprinkle. It was really something to watch the clouds steadily roll in and then drizzle. Dawdled quite a bit at the top. Admired the ruggedness of Lightning Peak and was interested to later read of someone's recent climb of it. From this side it appears as all cliffs, apparently the Four Stream side is more friendly. Once descended from Dry Mt I followed the Dry Creek trail to its finish. It continues past the saddle south of Dry Mt another .7 miles beyond the saddle to its end on a logging road. This side of the trail is situated in an impressive bowl formed of Mt. Tebo, Dry Mt., and the connecting jagged ridgeline. I had considered trekking from Dry mt NW to cross over the ridge between Tebo and Lightning. While a prominent notch was evident from this end of the trail, the route from Dry Mt to the notch appeared cliffy and I was glad I did not attempt it without more time. Jogged most of the trail back to arrive at the car before 3pm. Saw a coyote in a distant clearcut on the way back down.
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