Granite Creek Trail to Granite Lakes — Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017

We started at the newly opened TH and hiked to Granite Lakes on a nice Saturday morning.  The new portion of the trail (about 1.7 miles) is spectacular, as are the new TH and restrooms.  There were less than a dozen cars in the lot at 10AM.  This hike has one of the greatest payoffs that I know of for a low elevation Cascade hike.  The fall foliage was beautiful, especially in the higher areas where it was set off by a light layer of snow.  There were maybe six blowdowns in the 4 miles of trail between the TH and the lakes, and the last mile and a half was a bit brushy, but everything was easy to navigate.  There was a bit of snow on the trail near the lakes, but no traction was needed.  The first section is a little bit steep, but the large second growth trees and the lush gully draw your attention and the climb flys by.