I had a meeting in Toppenish, so decided to stop by the summit of Granite Mountain on the way home. Eight cars filled the parking lot at 1 pm on this Thursday. Don't people have jobs around here? I loaded my pack with everything I could find to get a good conditioning weight and headed up the trail. I knew the low clouds would eventually give way to sun, as I'd seen the summits of all the pass peaks as I came over the pass from the east. Just about where you reach open slopes I broke through the clouds into blazing sun and spectacular views. Lupin and bear grass covered the slopes. I followed the trail beyond the tarns just below the ridge top and then got off trail as I followed the creek and then footprints in the snow. I followed the snowy tracks up the north side of the ridge and up to the summit, finishing the last 100 feet on talus. After a quick bite and water break I headed back down. The trail follows the ridge, avoiding the necessity of snow travel. All in all, this was the perfect training trip for a weekday afternoon and my boss never missed me. Stats: 1.9 hours to top; 3.4 hours return; 8 miles RT; 3800' elevation gain.

Nice day for a trip up Granite, no rain and nice temperature. Fairly busy day up there, considering the summer route is not yet open. There is a thin finger of snow leftover, going up the ridge (from the tarns). Folks were summiting from a variety of directions, including the rock scramble, cutting across the bowl and rising from beneath the lookout, and a few closely following the summer route (all snow just above the tarns) but going straight up at the ""obvious gully"". I tried that one but didn't have my ice-ax so I skipped the last 50 feet. It's do-able, but depends on your comfort zone. Did a little trail maintenance...collecting numerous pink flags from the winter crowd...A little bear grass and a few paintbrushes and lupine blooming. Peak flowers have several more weeks to wait.

Trail totally snow free to start of ridge, then your choice of boulder-hopping or snow kicking up the ridge - basin not recommended yet.

My friend and I decided that Granite Mtn would be a good hike with the snow level receding earlier than usual because of the lower snowpack this year. We left the parking lot just before 10 am. The first 3.5 miles was pretty smooth sailing. There were a muddy parts especially in the first .5 mile but the trail was in very good shape overall. The overcast weather had clear breaks at points on the way up but at the very top part of the trail and lookout the visibility was not that good so views of the valley and surround peaks were not possible. This hike is even better on a clear day. I wrongly assumed that the trail was cleared of snow but the last 400 ft actualy still follows the winter route and is more steep than the summer route. A great work out hike but much more enjoyable later in the summer when the meadows are lush and the flowers are blooming. It was really nice though that the fire lookout was not just open like others at Mt Pilchuck but there was a volunteer there to answer questions and who made hikers hot tea. That was cool.

Well another Memorial day weekend, which means bad weather for climbing, time to go character building hiking. Went up with a friend today and encountered some weather. Rain below 3900' and then higher it started to snow, then rain, then ice pellets. Up higher more snow, sticking. We hiked the trail further, the snow got deeper, and the weather whitish out and snowing. At the cutoff to the ridge the new snow was 8 inches deep over old snow, and some folks that turned around higher up gave us good steps (we are on the top ridge that heads east west, leaving the summer trail just below 5k. We got to the top putting in steps, with occasional plunge steps between the rocks, and then past the cornices to the lookout. Probably about a foot of new snow in places and poorly bonded to the old snow pack. A little windy and whiteout, but to the rescue was a ranger who came to open the lookout. Great to get inside and I guess they are going to try to staff it starting this weekend on weekends. Plenty of people showed up later, and on the way down the new snow didnt seem to be melting much, but once the sun comes out I'm sure that will change. Only other thing worth mentioning is when people bring well behaved dogs leashless, no problem. When others bring less behaved dogs and they leave stuff on the trail for others to walk around or let them run crazy off trail chasing squirrels or birds and rooting through the bushes off trail and then push right past you on the trail, well you know, keep your dog under control (this has happened on several hikes recently)