Granite Lakes Road

We enjoyed a pleasant ramble up the Granite Creek road to the upper Granite Lake. The route follows a well-maintained DNR road almost the whole way. However, the gated road is little-driven and pleasant to hike on. Much of the road's bed is covered with grass and moss. The hike to the lake is long (5 miles) but moderately graded, and the 2300' climb goes by quickly enough. The final quarter mile to the lake follows a reasonably good trail hacked through the brush.

Granite lake itself, set in a scenic glacier-carved cirque at 3000' elevation, is thawed out and only a few patches of snow remain in its basin. At least in some parts of the Cascades, it's beginning to look a bit like summer.