Granite Lakes

I had again wanted to do Mt Tenneriffe, but on a clear day preferably. Since Thursday was another overcast day I opted for plan B, Granite Lakes. Only one other vehicle, a van, at trailhead, which is about 0.2 miles past the Mailbox Peak parking area (there were no vehicles there). The trail is actually a gravel/dirt jeep road which is gated just off of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road. The trail/road is mostly in forest for the first 2 miles or so. After heading east the first couple of miles the trail turns south. The landscape also opens up some. Visible to the right are Mailbox Peak and Dirty Harry's Peak (among others). There are also side trails that go at least partially up to some of those peaks. I came upon the other hikers on the trail, 4 retired aged men. One of the guys apparently knew "Dirty" Harry at one time. The guys said that Harry passed away only within the last year or so. Anyway, it was nice talking with those gentlemen and I headed on. Although the weather was overcast all of the nearby peaks were visible. No rain on the way up. At about 4 1/2 miles the most prominent Y in the trail/road is reached. There is a fairly new looking sign there showing Granite Lakes to the right and Thompson Lake to the left. I forgot my green trails map (I only had a guidebook route description) but would later check it when I got home and noted that it is only about 1.1 miles further to Thompson Lake. I will have to make this trip again and visit Thompson Lake, which I understand is more scenic. This route would be a shorter way to Thompson Lake (but less scenic) than from the Mason Lake/Mt Defiance trail. Shortly after the Y are the remains of a couple of old picnic tables. The road gets rougher (but is still a road) and crosses a couple of minor streams and descends and then ascends to a road-end cauldesac. The path to the Upper Granite Lake is marked with a rag on a tree at the far end of the cauldesac. The path is easy to follow although it is quite overgrown in a few spots. Also, the outlet stream from the upper lake is crossed but is not difficult to get past, especially with hiking poles. Shortly, the Upper Lake was reached. I took lunch there and had it all to myself (I did not see the 4 men again, they must have went on to Thompson Lake). Mt Defiance is prominent across the lake. I also noted a peak to the left that had a structure on top. It must be Granite Mt, although I didn't think I'd be able to see it from here. I don't know of any other still standing fire lookouts in this general area. Let me know if anyone knows otherwise. I had planned to try and circle the lake but it would be rough. I never did see the Lower Lake, but I didn't search that hard for it either. The outlet stream was the one place that had prevalent wildflowers. I noted columbine, beargrass, blue bells, lupine, mountain heather, phlox, salmonberry, etc all in bloom. The majority of the hike up had been sparse for blooming flowers until the area of the lakes. I returned to just below the Y and, from a distance, saw a guy with a bike helmet on, but he disappeared (on the Thompson Lake trail) by the time I got to the Y. This would be a good trail/road for mt bike travel. The rain pretty much held off until I was almost back at the car. Given the forecast, it turned out to be a great day for this hike. I would recommend this hike to families with children old enough to be able to handle 11 to 12 miles round trip. It is long, with an elevation gain of about 2300 feet. But the gain is mostly gradual, it never gets that steep.