Couldn't have asked for a better day. Felt like it was 65 degrees with no wind. Decided to take the old school route up to Granite and avoid Avalanche Gully due to low snow cover. I had crampons which helped quite a bit, my buddy didn't, but he had no problems. With no wind and no clouds, views of rainier and surrounding mountains were spectacular. it was so warm, my buddy stripped down to a t-shirt toward the summit. I wish i had brought my snowboard as the backside of Granite and some pretty nice bowls that had been untouched.

Met Scott and Alison for an ""Alison Alpine Start"" up Granite Mtn. We started hiking at around noon. I'm usually pretty leary about the avalanche prone gully approach, but the forecast for the day was low, and it's easy to see why; There is not much snow in the mountains. The recent high-altitude rain, warm temps and constant melt-refreeze cycles have consolidated what snow there is. We left snowshoes in the car and kicked steps up the gully until about 4500' where we donned crampons and axes. Although the weather was clear and beautiful, the wind was ferocious near and on the summit. We met a hypothermic young guy in Carhart pants, a fleece, running shoes and Atlas Snowshoes. No axe and no crampons. His speech was slurred, no doubt by the chilly high winds. We advised he take the ridge route (summer trail) back, as it was less exposed and he had a chance of surviving a slide down the mountainside! Glissading was a no-go. A mixture of frozen avalanche debris, and generally rough snow made plunge-stepping the preferred method of descent. The trail in the woods is pretty icy; Watch your step. Beave

We were expecting a beautiful day so we just had to get out. Left Seattle around l0 o'clock. We decided to go toward Snoqualmie since it was late morning. We took snowshoes just in case we went to Ollalie or Commonwealth Basin. We pulled off I-90 at exit 47 and walked up Pratt Lake trail. Just before the first stream crossing after the Granite Mt. trail junction we left the trail and headed up the ridge. Maybe we will go just above treeline and wander around.We took a short break near the stream about the 3600' level. The snow was firm and the temp. was mild in here. As we broke treeline we could feel the sun, still snow was firm with maybe an inch of soft on top. Fleet-foot kicked in steps and we continued up. Some where around the 4800' level we took a break by a tree. Fleetfoot dug a platform for us to sit on. We decided to go lighter from here so we only took one pack. We had spotted a couple going up the ridge from Ollalie Lake to Granite so we headed over that way. The area to our right seemed way too steep and the wall in front of us looked as though the snow could be icy underneath. There were a couple of places where we could just get small toeholds. At this point I am wishing that we had brought an ice axe instead of hiking poles.We finally got into the other couples steps and by this time I think we had decided to go to the top. Legs were becoming like rubber bands at this point but it was so clear and warm out that we just had to see the view form the top. Mt.Rainier, Mt.Adams, the Olympics,Mt. Baker,Glacier Peak and everthing else. WOW! Five other people and three dogs. There had been about 30 cars in the lot. I was a little frightened at glissading down but thought one could build up snow between the legs to stop. Turns out the conditions were great. Three long slides put us back to my pack and the snowshoes we did not need. If we were not being cautious at first we could have glissaded from the top to the pack in one run .As it was it only took a few minutes to get down what took an hour and a half to hike up.Several more runs and we were in the trees .Fleefoot had brought along a plastic sled from REI that he used after we picked up the packs. Boy do you fly on that thing. He said that you can steer them by leaning left or right. We were able to slide a few more shorter runs in the woods before hooking up with the main trail. Back to the car before 5 o'clock and to Seattle before sunset. Great day!

Beautiful day hike/snowshoe in to Olallie Lake from the Granite Mtn trailhead. No big views since its all in trees, but very peaceful. We used snowshoes for about the last mile into Olallie, but the trail was pretty well packed down all the way in to both Talapus and Olallie, and was probably hikeable as long as the snow stays firm. Mixed snow/mud from the trailhead until you turn off onto the Pratt Lake trial, then it's pretty much solid snow to the lakes. The snow gets MUCH deeper (and the traffic noise disappears!) after the trail turns northward away from the highway. I would estimate there is 10' of snow depth at Olallie. WOW! No bugs! There were 2 very aggressive birds divebombing for morsels of food, but other than that very quiet at the lake. On the way out, snow bombs falling from the trees became quite an annoyance. Luckly we did not get hit by any of the big ones we saw falling just off the trail. We saw 8 other people on the trail. Based on the car count at the trailhead when we left, I'd say there were a few more people up towards Granite Mtn. There is one new looking culvert just after the Pratt Lake turnoff that was plugged and the trail quickly turning into a gully. We couldn't open the plug with ski poles. This would be an easy fix with a shovel.

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