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Trip Report    

CHS 1 Hike - Dirty Harry's Balcony

The rain held off long enough to complete this atmospheric, comfortable hike averaging 1.75 mph.

Courtenay Schurman Courtenay Schurman
April 28, 2026
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The trail has 5-6 blowdowns that require clamoring over or under, but nothing requiring off-trail travel. A few other trees look ready to fall - keep an eye out in high winds for loose branches that could spear down on you. Only a few areas with mud (drainage spots) otherwise the trail is in pretty decent shape up to the Balcony. We did not go to the Museum or Dirty Harry's Peak as the range for CHS-1 for April was 4-6 miles and up to 1000'; we covered 4.5 miles and about 1375 so a strong showing for all.untitled-1.jpg

A Discover Pass is required to park here but payment kiosks are available at the TH. Restroom was open but out of TP.

Apparently the WA State Fire Training Academy uses the same parking lot - a few early birds got to the TH parking and were surprised by the number of cars waiting at 6:40 AM. But by 6:45 when I arrived, they had all moved - perhaps a gated area opened around then.

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We started hiking just after 7 at a 1.75 mph average moving pace. We only saw 2 dogs / 4 hikers on the morning with 4 more about to start when we completed our trip at 10:30. Trillium (including one already pollinated and purple), bleeding hearts, red flowering currants, and vanilla leaf without the stalks are blooming. And we were fortunate to have a northern pygmy owl ponging at us, among 22 species including four warblers, robins and varied thrushes, Pacific wrens, golden-crowned kinglets, and pine siskens, to mention a few. We had a few birders in the group so I pointed out some of the more evident bird songs.

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Breaks included brief stops at each vantage point and about 15 minutes at the Balcony before we returned, with nary a rain drop until we got back to the trailhead. My weather luck continues!