Trip Reports

This is a neat hike! The first couple miles, we didn't need our snowshoes. After that, they became necessary. There is a bridge crossing a little ways in that was pretty sketchy and snow covered. On the way back I almost bit it while wearing snowshoes. I recommend just wearing boots or microspikes across! There are several creek crossings the further you go that require stepping off several feet of snow to the creek and stepping up the other side. These are very challenging! We saw one group turn back because of this. Also, it was pretty cloudy and snowy yesterday so we didn't see the lake even though we were right next to it. We checked out the GPS and realized we had already arrived. The lake wasn't too remarkable being that it is frozen over and snow covered right now. It is however a very pretty walk in the woods to get there.

A nice update on the Granite Lakes hike … they are in the process of decommissioning the road up to the Lakes. It will look more like a trail in the coming years instead of the boring road. They have moved rocks, stumps and trees onto the road to create more of a trail. The metal culverts are also gone so there a couple of tiny creek crossings. Very nice to see!

Granite Lakes is a great hike. Mileage here calls it 10, we think it is at least 12 round trip. Wide path and is in great shape. Right now, bring snow shoes if you want to get all the way. For a complete review with pictures, visit the blog!
http://triplehhikers.blogspot.com/[…]/granite-lakes.html

The hike is about 10 miles total. The first couple miles are free of snow but once you pass Granite Creek it turns to snow. I struggled in my "shoe chains" and wished I had my snow shoes with me as the snow is still deep (see the pic of the sign). Both lakes are still mostly frozen over. Overall, the hike is fantastic and well worth the effort if you are looking for an alpine lake hike.

The short trail past Pothole Lake, Bertha Mae Lake and Granite Lake is pleasant and the latter two lakes scenic (see photos). Mt. Rainier can be glimpsed through the trees and at Granite Lake outlet seen clearly (photo). The trail does continue to Cora Lake beneath High Rock, but it was further than we wished to go on this day. It can be reached via another road and a shorter trail. The story of this trip however is the atrocious road to the trailhead. Road #8410 has sections with deep gullies (> 1 ft deep) that finally make it impossible to proceed the final 200 yards to the TH.Road # 84 had clusters of large potholes (=craters). The roads made what should have been a pleasant short day hike into an ordeal. Crossing Hwy 706, hoping for a west side view of THE Mountain we took Copper Creek Rd up toward Lake Christine. Bad as it was road #67 was an improvement over #8410. The trail started steeper than normal grade, then alternated between moderate to steep. The lake was open, but surrounded by snow patches. No Rainier view from lake and complete snow cover discouraged us from going higher for the views. We did, however, find time for some blackberry pie at the nearby Kopper Kettle restaurant.

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.

No snow on the trail, although there are numerous creeks crossing the trail. All of them are jumpable across, most of them easily. Lots of frogs out today.

The picnic benches at 4.5 miles mentioned in some guides have fallen apart, and are on the side of the trail. Access to the lake is very limited, and requires some off-trail navigation.

Surprisingly, the trail was deserted. I didn't encounter another hiker the entire time.