Granite Creek Trail to Granite Lakes — Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

Having done Snoqualmie Lake, Mailbox, Stegosaurus Butte in a rainstorm, and Rainy Lake on consecutive weekends, this was the EASY right-sized hike in the snow that we'd hoping for. 2.5 hours to the lake, an hour hanging out making hot chocolate and ramen noodles while kid played in the snow, and a bit under 2 hours back to the car. Trail had 6-8 inches of fresh powdery snow packed down well enough that we never took our microspikes out of our packs. I wore gaiters but would have probably been fine without them. Poles made creek crossings trivial, would have required a bit of luck without them. Only one easy-for-an-adult blowdown to navigate, and no washouts.