Putrid Pete's Peak via Dirty Harry's Balcony
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), the upper fork leads to
Putrid Pete's Peak and the lower fork leads to the Mason Lake
trailhead. 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 the orange trail ribbons petered out (whose
numbers until then were uncountable). There was a bit of class 3 rock
to climb to reach the summit.
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 Mount Defiance, but decided it
looked too slippery with snow/rocks, maybe later in the year.
In:
South Fork Snoqualmie Drainage, Middle Fork Snoqualmie Drainage
Copyright © 2024 Gabriel Deal.