There's nothing super special about Web Mountain. I've been there before. But that time had been (a) from Putrid Pete's Peak and (b) with the aid of snow. This time we'd be going via Dirty Harry's Bathtubs (ew) and without any snow.
Don't worry. We didn't crowd the Dirty Harry's Balcony. Since the plan was to come down from Putrid we parked at the Ira Spring trailhead and took the connector to the Balcony. This section is lovely and finally seeing some love. That ended when we got to the Balcony and started the old road up toward Dirty Harry's Peak. It ain't great, but it wasn't too long before we could turn off the road to an old trail.
It's pretty clear not that many folks are using this trail. It disappeared for stretches and then reappeared a ways higher. Not that it really mattered. It was clear where we were heading. We just needed to get to the saddle between Dirty Harry's Peak and Web. Behold: The bathtubs.
Erm... I think. I recalled them being fuller last time. Like actual tarns. This time around it was mostly a meadow with a creek running through the middle. Until we stepped on the "grass" and sank up to our ankles. We crossed and stepped on the talus slope.
And what a slope it was. It stretched, unbroken, from the bathtubs to the summit of web about 1,000 feet. It sounds brutal, but it was actually pretty nice. It was basically stairs (uneven, unstable stairs) all the way up. I had a nice, steady, slow pace. Henry would sit for a bit and then run up to catch me. Tink ran back and forth between us with the occasional sniff break.
We cut a corner of the talus through some woods and stumbled on a big haypile presumably made by a pika. Except it had a bunch of mushrooms on the pile. That's not something we've ever seen before. Apparently the these pika are different. They appreciate umami. Hope they don't like human flesh.
We made the ridge just southwest of the summit and wound around the boulders to touch the high point. We'd seen all of one person on the entire climb.
From the summit it's an easy ridge scramble to Putrid Pete's Peak and then straight down the slope 2,000 feet to rejoin the connector trail back to the car. Along the way we met a couple making their way up.
"Oh, no. You're bleeding!" Um... I guess? I looked at my shin to see a line of blood disappearing in to my sock. Whatever. "Do you need a bandaid?" Lol.
Putrid and Web are definitely easier to get to via the Bathtubs. The rocks were a blast, but I don't know that we'll return too often. It takes too long to do the long loop. But if we joined it with Mt. Defiance...
📍On the lands of the Snoqualmie people.
