I feel bad for those who slept in. This was one of those days we live for in the mountains. A 7:45 start showed six cars in the lot. The first mile is a gentle warmup, with 3000'+ in the last three miles. The trail has already been worked on this year. It's in awesome shape with no drainage, brush or tree problems. It's easy to stay on the summer route. The gaiters got pulled on at the continuous snowline, about 4400' elevation. Nice tracks up and onto the SE ridge. It was excellent snow conditions, not too warm, and no wind at all. About 300' below the summit the sun started burning through. A hazy, peeking type view began, becoming broader. It finally included far away peaks, all of them poking through the clouds. Watching thunderheads build over the Teanaway region was better than a clear blue sky. A lazy hour was spent on top, eating, and drinking in the view. R/T 8+ miles, 3850' gain, 2:35 up and 1:40 down.

Fleetfoot and I wanted to check out the saddle between Granite Mt. and peak 5565 just to the east of Granite. At the parking lot off exit 47 from I-90 there were six cars in the lot. We expected a much nicer day than Sat. so I was surprised there were not more people. Two people left as we arrived and another couple passed us on the trail before the first switchback. We took our time as we expected Dave and Bennett and Luka to meet us on the slopes above. After crossing the first large stream and climbing the three switchbacks, we started up the ridge. There was just a cover of fresh snow here and we put a flag off the trail for Dave and Bennett. Fleetfoot had his snowboard with him so we had to pick our trail up the hill. It was not bad going until after several hundred feet when we got into some vine maple. That slowed us down, also the snow was getting deeper. We had just about given up on seeing Dave when Luka came running up to meet us. He must have picked up our scent! Luka went down to Dave as we continued on to find a spot flat enough to rest a little. No luck! The snow was now getting knee deep with about one foot of new. Dave and Bennett caught up to us at just the right time. Bennett took Fleetfoot's snowshoes and lead the way with Dave following. Fleetfoot and I followed the steps. I tried my snowshoes but the toe of my boots kept comming out on the steep hill. It was better to follow the steps and occasionally break through. When we got to around 5,000 feet we traversed to the east and took a break with Dave, Bennett and Luka. They had dug a windbreak to sit in. We were able to get a couple of views of the lookout tower but it was mostly in the clouds.Fleetfoot got out his board and climbed to the ridge where he said he had a good view of Lake Talapus. He had a great run down to us. It was turn around time. We decided to cross over to below the west shoulder of Granite and head down from there. Dave and Bennett had to get back before us so they hurried along. I waited for Fleetfoot to pack up before going. I managed to get a little in front of him as I plunged steped down. Then, he came flyinig by on his board. It looked like a lot of fun,especially since I was now trekking across snow that was soft and knee deep. We dropped a little lower than I had hopped and were now going across a snow filled rock field. This was slow, so as soon as we got on the other side we headed down for the trail. Traverssing to the east as we went we came out on the Granite Mt. trail about 200 feet up from the junction with the Pratt trail. It was nice to be off the snow and onto a good trail. What a work out! Thanks Dave and Bennett!

NO HIKING BOOTS OR SNOW SHOES - hiking boots only optional, but I used my Montrails the whole way (snow shoes or insteps will help you once you reach the steep meadows). Over a mile past the Talapus Lake trail intersection before you hit snow. After that it was spotty depending on the thickness of the canopy. About 2+ miles up before you are in consistent cover. After you clear the forest, you can follow the trail for another quarter mile before the footsteps disappear. It is well-packed, with minimal post-holing because the sunny day yesterday probably turned this thing into the I5 of hiking trails. The sun exposure the top 700 feet of this mountain gets has kept the depth waaaaaaay below normal given our dry and sometimes sunny winter. Next up...Glacier Creek Rd to the foot of the Coleman on Baker...

Perfect conditions - sporadic snow in the trees, giving way to full coverage on the meadows. Neither crampons nor ice axe were needed. The snow was firm enough that snowshoes would not be worth the weight. Most people are using the summer route currently, given the low snowpack. Beautiful sunshine, only a handful of other hikers, and plenty of good dogs.

Couldn't have asked for a better day. Felt like it was 65 degrees with no wind. Decided to take the old school route up to Granite and avoid Avalanche Gully due to low snow cover. I had crampons which helped quite a bit, my buddy didn't, but he had no problems. With no wind and no clouds, views of rainier and surrounding mountains were spectacular. it was so warm, my buddy stripped down to a t-shirt toward the summit. I wish i had brought my snowboard as the backside of Granite and some pretty nice bowls that had been untouched.