Avid explorers, nature lovers, and fellow Washingtonians, Greetings and welcome.
On this slightly overcast day, my hiking partner and I chose to start our journey at a brisk 9:00 am where we were greeted by a surprisingly large number of cars (I counted almost 15) that grew to over 25 by the time we concluded our wonderful adventure around 1:30 pm. With high hopes and the promise of running into other fellow adventurers, we began the hike at a strong pace, enjoying the views of the avalanche chute, greeting hikers on our way up, and taking the occasional (but much needed) rest along the way. Admittedly, we felt quite out of shape struggling up this first half of the hike and although the terrain didn't feel particularly difficulty (almost trivial compared to Mailbox Peak or the Heather Maple Pass loop), we still felt ourselves properly winded at times. However, after frolicking up this first half of our hike of the day, we broke through the forest and entered a world of rolling hills, expansive views of nearby mountains, and what felt like a much easier and more manageable path. It didn't take long in this paradise of openness for us to encounter snow, and armed with our mid to high top boots and a trail of generously placed footprints left by our fellow nature connoisseurs, we pushed onwards and upwards with little difficulty. Due to the fact that we chose to leave our hiking poles in the car (after seeing the one other group in the parking lot begin their journey without poles we obviously felt we didn't need them either), we made the decision to scale the large boulders on the left of the trail instead of the slippery and slushy snow on the main trail. This proved to be quite advantageous in our adventure and we had no trouble at all scurrying up the remaining few miles of trail. Once at the top, we were pleasantly welcomed by a wonderful fire watch tower (which we were previously unaware of its existence on this specific hike), and enjoyed a pleasant lunch of leftover Kitchen and Market sandwiches - if you have not tried Kitchen and Market do yourself a favor and visit one of their two locations in Medina or Seattle (your tummy will thank you) and purchase yourself a wonderful meal kit for the whole family. After enjoying our delicious meal and watching the weather slowly turn from slightly overcast to very rainy, we decided to start our descent. Now refueled, we eagerly slid down the mountain on our bums using the paths of, again, our fellow travelers as it was clear this method of descent was not an uncommon one. Chatting with my hiking partner the whole way down (and the whole way up), the 4 mile descent flew by faster than you can say Kitchen and Market. All in all, we encountered around 8 other groups, 3 dogs, and plenty of smiles. While I am sure this hike would undoubtedly be much more stunning on a clear and sunny day, we thoroughly enjoyed this hike and all it had to offer including the lush greens, the muted browns, and the plentiful snow giving way to nature's emergence as our beloved spring comes to an end. With many more hikes to embark on this summer, Granite Mountain was a fantastic snowy hike for beginners and determined hikers, and provided a wonderful balance of beauty and difficulty. Enjoy!
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