It was already warm at the parking lot at 8:15am and it stayed that way. There were a few stray breezes and then the high clouds moved in. I don't think the clouds lowered the temperature but just prevented it for soaring higher. No snow on the summer trail save for a flat patch in the back basin. There is mud on the ""traverse"" above the ""former pond"" area as you enter that back basin. The ranger lady was ""manning"" the lookout and it was open. There was a bit of haze so the views were not crystaline but still more than worth the long hike up. Flowers below paintbrush, penstemon, pearly everlasting, bunchberry dogwood. Flowers above were some beargrass (below crispy critters), heather, tiger lilies. I found one almost blueberry tasting, well, blueberry. Mosquitoes on top and someone else complained about biting flies. Deer flies (I think the ones with elaborate wing patterns) in the forest.

It was a good day climb. I was expecting it to be harder and longer, carrying a midium weight backpack to train for a Rainier climb next weekend. It was the first big hike for J. Expect many, many, many people! It appeared to be a good hike to take your dogs along. The trail is quite clear with very small snow patches toward the end that can be crossed even in tennis shoes. A few mosquitos and other bugs in the upper half of the trail. Great views from up top, though it was a little cloudy when we got there. See if you can spot the Alpental ski chair lift from the lookout tower! Ashish and Jinhwa

Granite Mountain fit my need for a good conditioning trip. This popular trail was in pretty good condition most of the way with only a few muddy places near the snow patches within a half-mile or so from the top. There are a few well-traveled paths across the snow patches leading to alternate trails and dead ends. The noise from I-90 could even be heard on the summit. The lookout was inaccessible due to the closed hatch at the top of the stairs, which was rumored to be latched from above by folks who did not want to be disturbed. The entire hike was under, or in, clouds with occasional drizzle. The trade-off was no bugs. On this day, there were no views. 8 miles, 3,800 feet of elevation gain, six hours round trip with a long break on the summit.

The summit is accessible via the ridge, but that is more rock scrambling than a lot of people want to do. The summit is also accessible via the summer trail; there are only a few small patches of snow on the final approach which don't present any problem, although some people may be more comfortable with poles. The cornice is not covering the trail, or if it is, it is just barely is and you can easily walk past it to the lookout. If you want to cut off some of the wet slog through the basin you can follow the ridge until it gets to the rocks and then cut accoss the slope to the back of the basin and then take the summer trail to the top.

If you take the left hand trail once you get to the little bowl below the ridge, you can get to the top without snow, but will have to scramble over big boulders. The snow on the regular trail on the backside of the ridge is thinning rapidly and it looks like the final steep part to the summit is probably almost snow free. Good times.