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Today I wanted to hike up a fun mountain. I was debating between Teneriffe, Mailbox, Pratt, Pilchuck, and Granite. I finally chose Granite, and thank god I did!. I, like many other people, wasn't sure how bad the snow would be up there since there were no recent trip reports. Well I thought I would give it a shot anyway. The snow actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! When I got up there the snow wasn't bad in terms of difficulty hiking through. Not deep at all! However, BE WARNED, there are a lot of snow-cliffs near the top that the boot tracks will get very close to. DO NOT get near the edge of those things because they can give way and you can end up like the guy that fell on Mt. Saint Helens! Just follow the tracks and you should be ok.

So the snow starts about 3/5 of the way up. Follow the trail until you break out onto the bare open upper slopes, then follow all of the tracks straight up the hill to the ponds (well there are no ponds there at the moment, everything is in the snow).

NOW READ THIS CAREFULLY!!!

The tracks divide. One path goes right through the pond area and up the slopes behind it. The other goes directly up the hill and onto the ridge to the left, which looks like the quicker and more direct route. That is the way I went. DO NOT GO THAT WAY!!! GO RIGHT THROUGH THE POND BASIN AND UP THE HILL!!!

Ok so if you have been up Granite when there is no snow, you will know that the upper ridge route to the left is more of a scramble that goes over a lot of big boulders. It seems quicker than following the main trail route over the hill and into the large basin in the back. Well you may think that there is enough snow to cover the way up the ridge, right? WRONG!!! The snow between your feet and the rocks is more unstable than you think! It is pretty easy to fall through and into a boulder well! When I was going up, I can across a hole in the snow that exposed a dangerous and deep boulder well. I got over it ok. But on the way down, however, the snow gave way and I fell through. Luckily, I didn't fall all the way down into the hole, but I still landed on one of my poles and bent it badly. As more snow melts, more deep holes will be exposed! At least it was my pole and not a leg! I was dang lucky! Also, the ridge had dangerous snow-cliffs on one side, and a steep slope on the other, so the basin route is way more safer and less exposed.

So at the pond area where the tracks go their separate ways, go right, through the pond basin, and climb steeply up the hill behind it. Now you start hiking into the upper basin where the actual trail goes. Come up to another place where the paths divide. Right follows the route of the main trail through the rest of the basin and then climbs straight up to the summit. Left goes steeply back up toward the ridge below the summit. Now it is safe to go left and climb back up onto the ridge. Finally continue to the summit.

The summit is very dangerous if you are not alert and careful. DO NOT get near the edge of the snow-cliffs! Keep an ice ax in hand if you have one! Also it is very very windy! The wind chill factor is BAD! Bring gloves and wind layers! It is cool to see all the snow blowing around you though. Enjoy the views of all of the surrounding snow covered peaks: Kaleetan and Chair Peak, Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker, Bryant Peak, The Tooth, Snoqualmie Mountain, Overcoat Peak, Chimney Rock, Summit Chief, Lemah Mountain, Mt. Thomson, Big Snow Mountain, Hibox Mountain, Chikamin Peak, Mt. Stuart, Rampart Ridge, Mt. Adams, Goat Rocks, Mt. Rainier, The Olympics, Mt. Defiance, Bandera Mountain, and West Granite. On the way down make sure you do not miss the path that leads back down the slope and into the basin. DO NOT CONTINUE DOWN ALONG THE RIDGE!

Basically if you do not want to put up with a lot of snow travel or hazardous and exposed areas, save this hike for a bit later in the spring. But if you think you can handle it, the hike is well worth it! Amazing views!

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We normally wouldn't have done this hike in March, but because there's been so little snow this winter, it seemed like a good opportunity to do Granite Mtn. There is a lot of snow the last 1/3, but it was pretty slushy. The avalanche risk seemed pretty low. There were only a couple of tracks leading up the last big open slope, so it's a little hard when you have to break your own trail, but not too bad. We wore yak trax for the last third of the trail, which helped, but wasn't essential. We started about 11 am, and encountered about 6 people the entire day.

     My friend Scott was suffering from HDD (Hiking Deficit Disorder) so Dr. Mountain had just the cure, a quick trip up Granite Mountain. No snow and late springlike conditions made it possible to zip up to 3500' on dry trail. Then it was on and off well compacted snow until we hit the chute and headed straight up. I turned left at tree line and went up to the SW ridge while Scott opted for "routes directus" kicking steps straight up the steepest part of the slope. Above 5000' it was very windy and cold. Coming up from the SW side I put on my MSR Denali EVO Ascents and comfortably walked up to the L.O. on very hard wind blown crust. After a nice lunch and hot tea from the thermos with peak-a-boo views of Mt. Rainier through the flying clouds I soloed down the east ridge on deep beautiful virgin snow. Below 4500' the snow turned to very deep "oatmeal mush."
     A perfect day. Back in Seattle at 3:00 just in time for beer and pool at the Park Pub.

First time at Granite Mountain. Waited for a sunny day with relatively low avalanche danger and was well rewarded. Arrived at the trailhead about 9:30 monday morning, no other cars there. No snow at all, in the upper 40's with sun and some clouds. Very pleasant hike up though the forest which eventually thinned out and gave way to snow. The trail on the map seemed to disappear, so I decided to follow some tracks that went straight up towards the summit. Had to put on crampons and exchange the trekking poles for the ice axe here which was pretty much mandatory for reaching the summit. the snow became very deep and the grade was very steep. I took a ridge path as opposed to going up the avalanche chute. Beautiful views in spite of some of the cloud cover. Made it to the top and relaxed for a few minutes enjoying the rewards of winter climbing before heading down. Decided to try and find the map trail down which heads southeast. Again followed a track until it abruptly disappeared (either the aliens came down and abducted the track maker, or a snow slide obliterated the track). From here it got tricky. Descended a few thousand feet over very steep terrain in snow and then woodland. Crossed a few of the streams on my topo map and navigated a miserable chute chock full of avalanche bent thicket trees until eventually relocating the trail. Made it back to the trailhead after 6 hrs. A very full and exhausting day, but very worth while!