Went out to Granite Mountain thinking it would be doable after I did Mailbox Peak earlier last week. I arrived at the TH at 2pm and the parking area was about 90% full. There was snow immediately on the trail but I didn't bother putting on Microspikes until about a half mile into it.

The snow was mostly compact and pretty easy to walk on with Microspikes. 

My dog and I went up to about 3800 feet in elevation which was the 2 mile marker. It was totally fine until the boot tracks and snowshoe tracks stopped. At that point I was postholing up to my knees or deeper and that made it pretty difficult and I decided that I wasn't going to get up above the tree line without some serious effort. I turned around and we went back down.

I think it's totally possible to get up there but it would definitely require snowshoes. 

West Granite to Granite Mountain Traverse (*attempt for me)- 1/15/22

We parked along i90 off the side of the west-facing on-ramp and walked to the trailhead for Granite Mountain. The snow has been plowed into the inlet for the parking lot so don't expect much room. 

We skinned up to West Granite's western shoulder via Pratt Lake Trail. The trail was great but there's six or so drainage crossings you'll need to dismount skis for. 

Skinning up the shoulder, we had several GPS tracks from Peakbagger.com but ultimately did our own thing.

From the ridgeline, you ride the cornice all the way up, and its BIG right now. Unfortunately, I didn't have ski crampons on me that day, and we ended up booting a good 600ft of elevation gain via post-hole. This killed my feet and I bailed at the summit of Tusk O' Granite (aka West Granite). 

My friends then used the eastern slope to descend Tusk O' Granite and ascend up Granite Mountain proper. It took them about an hour and 600ft of gain from the saddle. Solid traversing!

I took some advil and kissed my surgery incisions goodbye. Po and I skied off the summit and into the saddle between Tusk O' and Granite. Gorgeous, delicious conditions. It felt like a heavenly ski resort. The way the slopes move and converge was a fun ride, and the trees are easily navigated.

This is because avalanches are so frequent here- we knew not to linger. We ended up skiing left and east onto Granite Mountain rather than going back to Pratt Lake. Caltopo (app) showed us that low angle terrain could be accessed by hitting a series of gateways in the trees. We popped out onto Granite Mountain Trail as the sunset. 

Busy day! I'll share the GPS track on Dave Orndorf's post in the PNW Peakbaggers fb page if I don't do a trip report for thedirtbaguette.com 

This report is out of date.
Avalanche risk still exists in these areas, but has shifted due to a change in weather (temperature) and precipitation.
Please check NWAC for more details.

WSDOT has closed Snoqualmie Pass, Stevens Pass, and White Pass until Saturday due to heavy snowfall (4’+ forecast) and avalanche risk.

Be very careful heading out into the snow this weekend. Snow immersion (tree wells, falling into powder) is a real risk right now and probably will continue to be a serious risk into early next week when natural avalanches occur and/or rainfall consolidates the snow.

All of the linked trails have avalanche terrain, minus Gold Creek Pond. Some of these are “safe bets” in normal conditions, but this snowfall is far from normal—it’s like the huge dump we had in 02/2020 and the huge dumps we had in 01/2021-02/2021.

Still a lot of deep, but slippery snow pack. Spikes and poles recommended. Down is more difficult than up unless you want to glissade. I didn't and slipped, twisting my ankle.

Despite the temptation to go out tomorrow/next week, I want to remind all of the risk of traveling up these trails right now.

First off, the trails aren't really wide enough to effectively practice social distancing for COVID-19 with an appropriate width between hikers: the required distance is greater than 6' because of strenuous exercising for reasons discussed in this Medium article (it needs to be at least about 35' between users).

Second off, the Ira Spring, Talapus/Ollalie Lake, and Granite Mountain/Pratt Lake trailheads are officially closed. They are barricaded up at various points and you are at risk of being ticketed by USFS.

Finally, the temps will be going over 50 degrees in the next few days. Traveling across the slopes risks you and others to being caught in large wet loose, wet slab, or glide avalanches, depending on the elevation bands, conditions, time of day, etc.

In short: do not go. You risk yourself, others, and search and rescue if you or others need to be saved.

Like the line in the "Hitler Reacts to Closure of National Forest trails" video goes: "Or just do our part for the greater good. We can make it through this and live to hike another day."

Recommended alternatives: hiking in neighborhoods or neighborhood trails with appropriate spacing between users.

Thank you.