Granite Mountain — Friday, Jun. 30, 2000

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Mike, Lorin and I made what has become our annual 4th of July Holiday weekend hike to Granite Mt. The neat thing about hiking Granite every year at the same time is we can compare snow levels. Last year we hit snow at the far end of the traverse, this year it was right below the rock pile that takes you to the summit. Speaking of that rock pile, Mike and I decided to skip the trip up the rocks but instead go thru the bowl and up the back way. (the normal trail route when there is no snow) There are a few old foot paths back there but for the most part we were blazing our own trail. At one point another hiker who was acsending via the ridge line hollered down to us about the steep part on the very back side, something about wanting to know the conditions. For the most part the snow was fairly firm, there were a few places where we post-holed but for the most part it was a-ok. We went about as far north as we could and then started up the slopes, luckily we had brought our ice axes which came in handy on some of the steep parts. We took turns on the point and then took a break with mist, fog and rain swirling around us. We could not see the shelter and were wondering how close we were when it dawned on me to check my new toy (altimeter) which indicated we were at the 5,500' level. We had to be fairly close so we started up a steep narrow pitch and actually popped out of the mist due North of the lookout tower which is buried under about 5 to 6' of snow on the North side. I let Mike go on ahead while I fiddled with my camera and gear before we started back down. We did a few standing (and sitting) glassades. We could hear people up on the ridge but could not see them at all. Lorin was waiting for us by the base of the rockpile so we stopped for lunch with him before heading back down. If anyone goes the back way to the summit, I would highly recommend an ice axe.