Blog version (disclaimers)

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: Granite Mountain Trailhead
Round Trip: 6.5 miles
Elevation Range: 1840′-5629′
Gear: microspikes only; ice axe, snowshoes, and crampons carried but not used
Dog-Friendly: yes

Happy New Year! I'm putting up a few photos and a quick write-up from our NYD pilgrimage in case folks want to head up before the next snowstorm. The weather was similar to last NYD but with much less snow.

The lack of precipitation in recent weeks has brought more foot traffic. THANK YOU to everyone who laid out the tracks for a smooth sailing trip. It's always nice not to have to carve out a path whenever possible.

The only other car in the lot belonged to the lone hiker we met below the southeast ridge on their way down. They treated themselves to a beautiful sunrise with a 4:30 AM start. Dang, I was still struggling to get out of bed then and thought our 6 o'clock start was bloody early!

• Recent tracks had packed down the snow soon past the third snow chute at mile 2.5, followed by continuous snow at 4200'. Before that, the path and first three chutes were mainly snow-free.
• Traction from the microspikes was sufficient for the entire trip. The only exposed ice was on the final slope below the tower.
• Some folks had stepped through thin snow into the gaps among the boulders in the upper ridge. There was a slight detour from the north slope. But with careful maneuvering, staying on the crest for the whole traverse was doable.
• On our way out, we dropped onto the south ridge and joined the trail before crossing the first snow chute.

A guy came up to the tower a while later and quickly left. Then, I chatted with the second hiker with a dog in goggles before leaving.

Highlights

• A packed down trail from start to finish
• Sunny weather despite the mostly cloudy forecast
• Low avalanche danger

Lowlights

• A sub-freezing start
• Temperatures were in the low 20s at the lookout due to wind chill; burrrrrr.

April 28 was the latest I've ever attempted the winter route, and I can't day I recommend it this week. The weather was beautiful, but probably too beautiful. I started on trail at 7 am, 45 degrees, hit the Granite turnoff at 7:25, and got into snow around the one hour mark.  At 8 am the snow in the chute was chunky from past avalanches but pretty solid, so I strapped on the MSR Ascent snowshoes and ascended up just to the left of the avalanche chute, sometimes dipping into it. (Don't ridicule me--I turn tail a LOT when things are sketchy and there was very little danger early on.) I saw footprints ahead of me crossing the chute, and was tempted, but didn't want to be coming back across the chute in afternoon sun.

I got above the chute maybe 9:00 and switchbacked upward, but it was sunny and getting warmer. At about 10:00, the sun blazing, the snow was getting too wet and unreliable. Trying to edge in was killing my 58-year-old knees, especially with every side-slip. And every snowball I kicked down rolled a long way and got bigger, so by 10:45 I turned around around at 5,200 ft in elevation. Every other time I've done this, in colder weather, I've plunge-stepped straight down the hill and fast. Lots of fun. This time, too steep and sketchy snow, and too warm, so I had to switchback down as well much of the upper mountain. Once I hit the trees, shoes off, and a normal descent. Back to the car after 5:48 on trail, where my car's thermometer said 86 degrees. Way too hot for snow to be remotely safe. 

The trail itself was in good shape, but I strongly caution about the winter route this late in the year unless we have a few straight days of hard freeze, which I think is done for the year. But I'd also avoid the summer route for now.

(Update: a very dangerous hole has been opening up along the ridge traverse from Granite to West Granite; see https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2023-03-29.6257883563 and https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1248419)

Beautiful day for the winter route on Granite, which leaves the main trail at about 3500' and heads fairly directly and steeply to the summit, staying west of the first avalanche chute and gaining the windswept south ridge. Snow was soft enough that I just used boots on the trail, switching to snowshoes when I left it. They gripped well enough even on the icy ridge, although if I descended that way, I probably would have worn crampons for a while. However, I didn't descend that way, instead heading northwest to visit West Granite. Note the large cornices along the connecting ridge. The view into the heart of the central Cascades was even better from West Granite, since the clouds had parted.  From there I went south to that other little bump, and then west (steep at first but very soft snow) to the Pratt trail, which was stomped out but not icy enough need spikes. Great hike for the first day of spring, about 8 miles and 4000' gain.

Blog version (disclaimers)

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: Granite Mountain Trailhead
Round Trip: 7.4 miles
Elevation Range: 1840′-5629′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes; ice axe carried but not used
Dog-Friendly: yes

Since it's a popular destination, I'm putting down conditions from today for those looking to visit the mountain while the weather still holds. The moral of the story is that you will have tracks to follow until the next snow dump.

I trust that most, if not all, people do their due diligence and check the weather/snow conditions and not by word of mouth before heading out. With that said, I'll cut the technical jargon, get straight to the point, and save my life story for the blog.

Yesterday's rainy/snowy weather added more snow on the mountain than I had expected. Being the first in the lot on New Year's Day, I knew the dog and I would spend some time plowing through the fresh powder from the first clearing, assuming no one caught up to share the load before we reached the tower.

• The recent foot traffic helped pack down the snow on the lower trail, and the low temperatures froze it. Microspikes helped tremendously through this part. Beyond the first stream was running water until continuous snow took over.
• The postholing boots and a pair of snowshoe tracks appeared past the trail fork to the second clearing at 3100'. The footpaths dwindled by the sudden, deep powder. We continued in ankle-to-knee-high snow to the 4000' switchback before losing the summer trail.
• After moving east slowly for half a mile while following my GPS track from 2019, we veered north at 4300' and reached the southeast ridge at 5000' over open, mild terrain. Here the summer trail crosses to the north sans snow.
• The rest was straightforward, without surprises. We stayed on the crest and powered through more fresh powder to the tower.
• The northwest ridge traverse to Tusk O'Granite (West Granite) was also straightforward, except that the south slope was an ice sheet. We avoided it by going through the powder over krummholz and rocks on the crest.
• We stayed in the trees from the saddle and moved through the exposed boulders on the south ridge to finish.
• To exit, we traversed the south ridge to Point 5150 before dropping 2000' straight south to meet Pratt Lake Trail and hike out.

Two people (Liam and, um...) showed up an hour later. Not sure if anyone went up after they left since we went to Tusk O'Granite. At any rate, all of our tracks, including the dog's, will hopefully take trail breaking off your mind so you can enjoy the beautiful landscape en route instead.

Highlights

• Expansive views with inversions in lower valleys
• Sunshine above the clouds, and for the rest of the trip
• Solitude; chatting with the two gentlemen

Lowlights

• Breaking trail in fresh snow
• New releases in upper snow chutes, proceed with caution
• Windchill, with a mild breeze on top

I decided to go out to Low Mountain today via Granite Mountain Trail for a few reasons:

• I did some gazing from the car yesterday and the south face of Granite Mountain was clear of cornices and incredibly wind scoured.
• The avalanche forecast was low with no items of concern.
• I did my avalanche companion rescue course refresher yesterday at Snoqualmie Pass (inbounds) and the snow was incredibly robust (and a pain to dig...).
• Reports from the area on NWAC suggested that my anecdotal observations were in line with the conditions elsewhere in the zone.
• The temps were forecasted to be cold throughout the day, making for ideal conditions to putz around by Granite.

It was a long and intense day, but also loads of fun too ☺️. Strava claims I did 9.3 miles and 5.6k' -- and I used most of my quiver of Winter gear today. I posted a GPS track on my Peakbagger ascent entry.

Disclaimer: I'm not posting snow conditions on WTA today (apart from info about the chutes), since they will be changing very soon with the incoming storm forecasted for tonight/tomorrow. Please check my NWAC observation if you'd like more details.

How It Went

I got an earlier start (around 7:30) from the trailhead.

The road and parking lot area was plowed since it's now being treated as a sno-park. It was pretty much full by the time I got there; I was the next to last car that parked at the trailhead -- multiple folks were parking near the off-ramp.

It was pretty cool in the morning and the ground was pretty icy. I successfully got up to the Granite Mountain junction in a little under an hour thanks to some creative shortcuts through the snow cutting switchbacks; I wasn't keen on following the trail since it was basically a sheet of ice due to all of the traffic (ski, board, boot). It was actually a lot faster and safer to cut through the trees without traction.

The first avalanche chute (I-90 chute) had some snow in it, but it was very low coverage (the lowest I've ever seen), so I wasn't worried about crossing it. The second chute had some snow, but less than the first chute. The third and fourth chutes had a lot of bare rock. The fifth and last chute had some snow, but it was minimal. It was definitely the lowest coverage I've ever seen Granite Mountain in the past 3 years I've been climbing it.

I had put my crampons on after the second chute for stability, but I could have gotten by with microspikes in the morning until I got past the chutes.

At the open clearing after the fifth chute I went uphill zig zagging with my ice axe and crampons. It was difficult getting purchase with my crampons and ice axe. To top it off, I had a minor malfunction with the crampons (user error), so I needed to stop and adjust them partway uphill. There weren't any visible issues of concern (snow loaded trees, cornices, etc) and there was a lot of visible rock, so I felt comfortable heading uphill over a steep section, taking my time weaving around the trees--despite the fact that I was heading up a hillside that was over 35°.

Once I got a view of Granite's ridge, I spotted some sizable cornices along the N/NE/E aspects of the ridge. I guessed there were likely more around Denny Lake on those aspects of the ridge, so I planned on tentatively going down the E ridge towards the saddle due E of Denny Lake. Sure enough, there were cornices on the same aspects, so I continued down the E ridge, sticking a bit more to the W side since my visibility of the hazards was limited. Fortunately there weren't any cornices on N/S aspects along the ridge otherwise I would have bailed.

I avoided open slopes because of concerns that I had about them maybe being in avy paths (start zones weren't 100% obvious). I didn't spot any particular issues today along the open paths, but I didn't look super hard so I was being conservative.

Once I got down to the lake, I stopped, ate lunch, and gazed at the avalanche debris around the W side of the lake. I had considered going up the S and W ridge towards Granite on the way out, but it didn't seem any better than the way I came and it likely involved exposing myself to weak cornices by Granite summit in the afternoon, so I planned on heading back the way I came.

On the way up I went towards the saddle due NNE of Denny Lake, then oriented myself NE and headed uphill. The hillside was fairly well protected and I didn't see any cause for concern today heading uphill, but all of the trees were missing limbs along the trunk on the uphill sides.

After some bobbing and weaving between the trees and a few hundred feet, I finally got to the false summit. The view of the west Snoqualmie Pass peaks was so great there today.

I followed the ridge spine north with my snowshoes, but it was too narrow (<6") and the runout was poor on each side, so I swapped out my snowshoes for crampons and gingerly walked the ridge. Once I got past this section I had to negotiate a few more knobs that were like false summits. I'm guessing when more consolidated snow is present one can likely bypass the whole lot (including the ridge) by dropping down the E face by the false summit.

After a whole lot of suspense (and a large degree of annoyance because I thought I was closer than I really was 😂), I finally got to the summit. The view there was really fantastic today: I could see all the way to the Snoqualmie Pass summits, Stuart, Thomson, Chikamin, Hibox, Big Snow, Kaleetan, Preacher, Revolution, Defiance, Bandera, McClellan Butte, the Granites, Tinkham, Abiel, Tahoma, and many more mountains (Pahto was off in the clouds today). It was crazy seeing some of the D3 avalanche debris that came off of Chair Peak too over the past month. It'd run all the way down the SW aspect to the E edge of Upper Melakwa Lake.

Heading back the way I came was kinda difficult because the snow had softened up, but I made do using the crampons when descending and the snowshoes when ascending. By the time I got back to the S face of the ridge, it was late in the afternoon (15:00) and the snow was soft enough that I could "tele-snowshoe" down it (a technique I learned last Spring heading up and down the Chelan Sawtooths). It's really fun doing controlled slides on the snowshoes like skis, breaking with my poles.

The way out past 4.5k' or so sucked though... lots of annoying postholing to contend with. By the time it got dark the snow had refrozen and was a sheet of ice again. I got back to the car around 18:00.

Gear Used

• Climbing helmet
• Crampons
• Ice axe
• Microspikes
• Snowshoes
• Trekking poles