A gorgeous Sunday! Marine layer in Seattle - but lovely at the trailhead. Sadie was ready. Brought her friend Zoe (Springer Spaniel) with her. Trail is absolutely clear until you hit the boulders. Then, you have a choice of snow field or boulder scrambling. The dogs definitely preferred the snow. The whole north side is still deep in snow. It will be 2 - 3 weeks of this summer-like weather before it's melted out and ""hikeable"". Views were spectacular and there were lots of folks on the trail.

I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and head up to Granite Mountain. I had one time before tried to summit but was turned back by conditions and daylight in a few years ago. The trail is 4 miles one way with 3,800 feet elevation gain and I think a hard hike than Mount Si, mainly due to the trail having a lot more boulders and snowfields to hike through. The trail is in good shape for the most part. You will encounter snow for the last mile or so but it actually helps you get to the Lookout easier (instead of boulder hopping). The views are awesome and with the weather we had views of Rainier, Glacier Peak, Stuart and other mountains were out in force. This is a popular hike, so be prepared to see other people (though not even close to the amount you would see on Mount Si). My other advice is to leave early so you see less people and face less of the heat of the day.

The path towards heaven was snowfree and fancy free until the upper ridge. Started to hit large patches of snow halfway up the ridge. The campsite basin area still rested under several feet of snow. Beyond the camp area, the trail up onto the rocks along the south side was 2/3 clear and 1/3 under snow - but the butt slide along the ridgeline was open for business all the way back down to the campsites. Looked as if the loop toward the north was completely snowbound. More flowers than bugs - and neither were biting - and neither could be found above the snow level. I was the first to arrive at 6 AM - saw no one until I was descending the ridge. Ended up leaving 8 people on the mountain and 2 in the parking lot.

You know, for June 1 it was quite nice. I've learned that June is no where near Summer in this neck of the woods. It was cloudy when I left Seattle. It was cloudy on the drive to the trailhead and it was cloudy for the hike. No snow until just about two or three switchbacks below the decrepit tarn near the summit ridge. Thence it was snow to the top. There were two or three steep sections on the ridge and the cornice needs to be avoided. Also watch for the holes in the snow above rocks. Others, two parties of two and a dog preceded me to the top since they were just heading down as I got there. It was a bit breezy and quite foggy. The lookout disappeared a few times on the way up and again as I headed down. I got up there just a bit before 10:30am and had the place to myself for a cool, foggy half hour. On the way down and just a bit above the aforementioned tarn I saw what was to be lots of folks heading up to the top. While the sun made a few attempts to light the woods on the way down it faded just as quickly. I'm not sure if others had bright sun up there or not. But I had it to myself which I'm sure no one else did. Good day.

Memorial Day turned out to be quite memorable with cooperative weather making the hiking nice. Having done Lake Serene the day before I wasn't quite sure if my legs were up for the trek. The trail was in great condition up to about 4400 ft. then it turned in to snow. Being a warm day, the snow was soft and not too difficult to walk through, the dogs loved it(wish I had their boundless energy)! Despite the fact that I'm not too coordinated in the snow, I could see the look-out and just had to get to the top. Thus having made a successful ascent, going down was well, lets just say it was good I had some help. My leg went all the way through the snow and the dogs licking my face and whimpering at me didn't get me out. Fortunately Matt pulled me out of the hole and the rest of the trip went smoothly. All in all, it was a great hike! Happy Hiking :0)