Weather looked good this morning, so headed out for a hike. Originally I planned to head up to Olallie Lake via the Pratt Lake Trail, but I made a spur of the moment decision to hike the Granite Mountain trail because this was probably the last opportunity to do it safely until the warmer weather returns.
Got to the trail head around 8:45a, with only a handful of other cars in the lot. The toilets were unlocked an stocked with TP.
The trail started very wet, and remained fairly wet until you go higher up. The trees had some snow in their branches, so this was raining down on me during the initial mile or mile and a half of the hike as the sun melted it. Once I got higher, and it was a bit cooler, this wasn't an issue.
While in the forest, there wasn't much snow to deal with on the trail, and it was fairly smooth going. There were a couple of blow downs, but you can easily step over them.
I counted about 35 switchbacks from the fork to the meadows, but some of the ones I counted you could blink and miss, so if you're counting, it's at least more than 30.
Once out of the trees, I was in about 2-3in of snow, but it was soft and grippy, so I had no traction concerns. I had hiking boots and poles with me, and this was more than enough to keep me steady.
The trail was easy to follow, but there were at least 2 folks ahead of me on the trail, so I could easily follow their paths.
I did not go all the way up to the lookout; stopping just before the last climb up to it (the heights & exposure bothers me), but talking with another hiker, he said it manageable to get to (grippy snow).
No problems going down, although it was full on raining by the time I got back to the car, so I feel like I timed the weather right.
I know this trail can have avalanche danger as the winter season progresses, so I was glad to squeeze this in before that was the case, but I hope folks are mindful of that as the snow accumulates.
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