I do not know where Fleetfoot was this weekend but with the nice weather forcast for Sunday I just had to go out. The questioin was where? I wanted a hike close by that would give me a work-out, berries-hopefully?- and autum color. I headed for Granite Mt. It was not an early start so the parking lot was just about full.There were five other people starting out at the same time.It was sunny down below with moving clouds and or mist up above. I had on my wool and was very upset that I did not have my short pants in my pack. However, just before crossing the avalanche gully I stopped and put the wool in my pack and wore my wind breaker pants and T-shirt. As I got to the berry bushes I began to take pictures and eat berries.I slowly worked my way up to the pond where I took a short break and then started up toward the tower by way of the rocks.I started to get sensual overload from taking so many pictures.Therefor,I was very happy when a gal coming down the rib told me it was 3 o'clock,as this was at the far end of my turn around time.I was going to take pictures on the way out but decided to hike as fast as my feet would take me.However, I always slow down when passing others unlike a couple of joggers that passed me as I was going up.The trail is in great shape and the color is superb.Agreat place to go any time of the year!

Took the day off for a hike on my birthday! Actually, I may have worked harder doing Granite Mt. But it was a BERRY BERRY nice day. No bugs and as the ""adjectives"" indicate - the berries were wonderful and cover much of the upper mountain. I had the place to myself for about an hour which was very nice. Nice color, too. Enjoy the Fall hiking as the weatherman seems to indicate this is going to continue.

Trail is all clear and the huckleberries bushes are that beautiful red color. The views yesterday included Mt.Adams and Mt.Baker around late morning. Neat! thought there were no bugs, but now i'm scratching 6 mosquito bites. guess i stared at Rainier and Adams for too long.

Fun hike today, although a bit in the clouds, we broke through towards the top, but didn't grab any views! Trail is in great shape, and not too crowded, especially with early start. Ranger was nice enough to let us into the tower at the top- I imagine a great view when the clouds are not hiding everything! Bugs were moderate (not bad while hiking, but when stopped to eat lunch at top- even in the breeze- they were all around us. Needed spray, but that seemed to work okay. Our son had a great time doing a standing glissade down a small snow field towards the top! Can't wait to do on a clear day!

Turned out to be remarkably nice up there. Some small, non-issue patches of snow above the creek on the summer route on the north side just below the ridge. No access to the lookout. Quite a few folks. Flowers are probably past their prime. Still some fresh beargrass above the little creek (it use to be a nice small pond). Lupin, paintbrush, penstemon and some others. Not much sign of berries just yet. Might not be a great crop but that's still a month or more away. The summer trail is a muddy mess where it swings up and behind the ridge route. All in all - wonderful day.