Granite Mountain — Monday, Mar. 2, 2026

Beautiful late afternoon hike up to the summit of Granite Mountain, as I didn't get started until after 2pm. The trail became all snow at around 4000ft, so I put on microspikes as I was slipping a little bit. Snow was soft due the warm day, so not sure how much they really helped. Once out into the open at around 4500ft where the summer trail turns uphill and to the north towards the lookout there really is not any bootpath, just a lot of boot prints that follow the general path of the summer trail. It's like this all the way to the summit. If you veer off these boot prints you probably will post hole. These boot prints head up the ridge directly to the lookout. There is no track visible on the eastside of the ridge where the summer track usually goes. High up on the ridge many boulders are only partially covered with snow, which makes thing tricky as not to bust through any voids. There is a bit of short scrambling to avoid these voids. I just took my time here, especially on the way down, and avoided busting through one of the many voids. Great views on this bluebird afternoon. Donned my headlamp for the last 20 minutes of the hike out