8 of us met at the Granite Lakes TH parking lot at 7:20 AM this morning for a 7:35 start. Our first obstacle occurred before we ever arrived -- on the one-lane road past Mailbox, where a giant tree lay across the road. Two of us did a 3-point turn to return carefully to the start of the road and signal others (one hiker going to Mailbox and a school bus driver) of the outage. By the time we finished our hike at 1 p.m. someone had set 3 cones across the road to prevent other traffic from using it.
Grateful the latrines are once again open and useable. Discover pass is required.
Our trip to Granite Lakes was windy with a little bit of everything; we encountered 3 inches of snow on the trail above the Thompson/Granite Lakes junction. One person used microspikes, several used trekking poles, but the snow was for the most part easily passable. There were just a few places where the slush was a little slick. I reminded everyone that shoulder season is unpredictable and plan to carry microspikes on my future Tuesday hikes, just in case.
What surprised me most was 1) how little treefall we encountered -- only two -- and 2) the number of smaller alder branches bending toward or stuck to the trail from the snowfall. I think we brushed off and cleared 40 boughs for easier hiker access and to save the foliage.
Beautiful yellows with the white snow. Most of the creeks are still easily crossed; only two had enough water flowing to make it a little tricky. And the "waterfall" halfway between the bridge and Thompson/Granite sign has some flowing water. Once we were at the lake we used rocks for stepping stones instead of the snow-covered tree.
We spent 20 minutes at the lake for lunch before the wind threatened to chill people, then we headed back the way we came. All told we encountered maybe 12 people (and one dog, one baby) heading up the trail. Total stats 8.9 miles at 2.2 mph moving time and done by 1. A lovely, beautiful trip.
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