Dirty Harry's Balcony, Mt. Baker National Forest-Snoqualmie Trip Report
April 26, 2003
More Pictures From This Hike!
John Munyan
126 Review(s) to Date
John is an avid hiker, spending a goodly portion of his time up in the hills, or sitting in front of a computer.
Either way, most of what finds his eye is green, or blue, - organic, or lcd. John likes this website, hopes you do too, and invites you to write a review of a couple hikes you've done!
zzzlyle
24 Review(s) to Date
I live in Federal Way, WA and I enjoy getting out into the great outdoors and hiking and would someday like to make it to the top of Mt. Rainier. When I can't get outside, I'm the IS manager at a marketing firm in Kent.
Directions: Drive I-90 to exit-38. Turn right and follow the road and signs directing you toward the State Fire Training Center as it turns back under I-90 and, if open, pass through a yellow gate with a sign warning it will be closed after 4:00pm. Follow the road over a bridge spanning the South Fork Snoqualmie and at ½mi past the gate at a bend in the road find three large concrete blocks blocking Dirty Harry's road on the right hand side. There is no official parking, but there is plenty of room to park in a large grassy area on the opposite side of the road.
Trail Notes: This is another logging road hike. The road/trail is fairly rough though quite passable and like most road/trails covered you are surrounded by deciduous trees. The trail itself is steeper than most modern logging road probably owing to it genre. The story goes there was this guy Harry who logged the slopes around Snoqualmie pass with a vengeance and that there are remnants of this activity still strewn about. I can't take exception with this other than to say that many of the guide books emphasis the remnants more than they should in that you probably won't see many of them, but will probably see evidence corroborating the validity upon which the observations were based.
The trail climbs for about an hour or so along the road with nary a sight of remnant logging operations save the second growth trees. Views are not to be had during this time and you have to be entertained with the trail. At about an hour you reach a spur which is marked with a oil can (which is metal so I guess that is from the olden days), some rocks, and some random debris. Take the spur as it leads to Dirty Harry's Balcony in about 10 minutes. The trail to Dirty Harry's Balcony is relatively level giving up a little elevation in the process of getting to the overlook. It is a nice enough place to take lunch overlooking I-90 an give in a view across the valley of the Southern slopes.
We opted to continue upward in hopes of spying some of the more substantial logging remnants such as a truck which has been reported to have been rolled or otherwise found its way off the trail on the downwards slope. Alas we did not find said truck. Instead, not surprisingly we found more of the same trail/road eventually reaching a switch back covered by a large landslide some time ago. Beyond this we ventured up the trail about another 15 minutes before abandoning hope of locating more remnant of that Dirty Harry saga.
Overall I wasn't too impressed with this hike, but that seems fairly typical of my assessment of road/trails. They just never seem to dish out the goods in a way that makes it worthwhile. A better alternative to this hike would be any hike further East (closer to Snoqualmie pass) where you will get a better experience. Hopefully this will all change by the time I am an old man if these hills aren't again logged. Which it would seem is a process that isn't worth while as the trees in general seem to grow back slowly - giving credence to the assertion that whatever logging goes on here is really more akin to mining than anything else. Also worth note is that if you continue up the road past the Dirty Harry trailhead is a firefighting training center which is worth a look if you are interested in what one of these look like. It is a large concrete structure that when we were there was actually smoking!
Please do the other users of
the site a service and 'write a user review' of a hike you have done!
Requires no account, and only takes a minute.
This Hike has received 59,487 Hits.
Enjoy the history
Reviewed By: Snowlover on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 @ 01:49:58 PM
Rating: 
Difficulty: 
Review:
Rather than complain about a few logging remnants and logging practices of old, look at this hike as a oppertunity to think back on the incredible hard work and lonely life old Harry must have led. He worked harder than any of ever have to and I appreciate anyone that tackled such a profession.
The hike to the top had snow for the last 1000 feet or so and the day was rainy and cold so the views off the cliffs above Granite lakes was non-existant. Stopped @ the Balcony on the way down and did a small geo-cache hunt.
Trail is rugged, wet and not what the hiking shoe crowd will enjoy. Bring water proof high top hiking boots or your feet will be wet and your ankles twisted.
Oh yeah, the best part, no one else was on the trail on the memorial day weekend. Love the soiltude.
Easy to Miss
Reviewed By: Terri on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 08:10:57 PM
Rating:
Difficulty:
Review:
Found this trail in the trail book when I was looking for 1/2 day hikes with moderate difficulty. Convinced my friend we should give this one a try, since I'd not heard of it before. Unfortunately, the instructions in the book on how to get there were not good and we wasted an extra half hour driving around trying to find it. Once we parked (on the side of the road since there is no lot), we took off up the hill, and I mean UP THE HILL. The trail is difficult in that you are basically hiking in a creekbed all the way. We kept climbing and climbing and I kept telling her, we've climbed way more than the 1300 feet elevation gain the book said. We crossed through a creek, ran into the first snow of the Fall, and finally stopped at a large boulder field (talus?) and ate our lunch. It wasn't the view that the book showed, but it was still nice. Back at the car, we looked up the hike and found out where we went wrong. We should have turned off the trail at the rusty milk can. We did see what looked like the start of a trail, but it didn't look like it went anywhere and we were afraid of getting lost.
So, 4 hikers of difficulty for the steepness and poor trail. We probably climbed an extra 1500 feet and 2-3 extra miles. If we'd known how close the summit was, we would have gone ahead and finished. Only 3 stars since the trail is so poor. You are pretty much stepping carefully through rocks in a dry creekbed. Bring good hiking boots.
Beautiful Glimpse
Reviewed By: courtney C on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 @ 05:21:30 PM
Rating:
Difficulty:
Review:
Great start to our season! It was raining and cloudy, yet it was still a beautiful view when we got to the ledge. It's straight up climbing from start to top. Be careful to not miss the turn off to the right where the flag marker is to get to the ledge. We just kept climbing and climbing!! Oops!! 
Where's the End?
Reviewed By: Cindy on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 @ 07:29:16 PM
Rating:
Difficulty:
Review:
Had an interesting day of it. None of us had been on the hike, and one guy took off, so I hiked hard to catch up with him--before he got lost. The trail follows a creek in some places and crosses creeks in others, so it's not easy to stay on the trail. Then, because I didn't know where the balcony was, we hiked up Dirty Harry's Peak, which was well worth the hike. Once you follow the plastic flags tied to trees, it is a very steep grade up. And, it just keeps going. Once at the top, since it was an overcast day, we couldn't see anything, and the rest of the group had stopped not far past the balcony and were ready to go home. So, we ran down to catch up. Talk about lactic acid! Anyway, it was a great workout, and I'm sure the balcony is nice, too.
Write a Hike Review of Dirty Harry's Balcony, Mt. Baker National Forest-Snoqualmie
Register
- Nearby Hikes (Click Marker for information)
Forums
Maps
Arches National Park - Utah (5)
Map to Trailhead from your location:
Topographic Map of Hike:
Virtual Earth Satelite Photo:
http://www.fs.fed.us
Powered Forcast For This Exact Hike.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com
http://www.washingtonhikes.com
http://www.wta.org
