Granite Mountain, Granite Mountain - Winter — Saturday, Feb. 2, 2002

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Left the trailhead at about 830am, with a busy parking lot of cars and folks. The trail was rwally beaten down from Saturday, so snowshoes were not necessary, even though many other folks were wearing them out of the lot. Reached the Granite/Pratt Lake junction and continued upward. We followed the West Ridgeline this time, which I had never taken, so you go straight up in the trees to stay away from the gulches that can be dangerous with avalanche danger at certain times. Once we got out of the treeline, it got real windy. Ice was soon encounterted once we got on the ridge, with exposed rock and vegetation. Crampons would have helped us on the way up, but we decided just to get to the top and then wear them on the descent. Winds and spindrift were hitting us at 35-40mph. I was certainly glad that I had my balaclava for once! We reached the summit almost 4 hours later, then made a quick descent only to find the sun come out for a few brief moments while we had lunch at treeline. Not much glissading at all due to the wet heavy snow. Good times! scott@nwog.org