An absolutely outstanding day with clear views in all directions. This was more of a crampon day even though I didn't have any. Snowshoed one small section in the middle of the hike and followed the footsteps all the rest of the way. Excellent conditions and great fun for my first winter trek. It doesn't really get any better than this.

Being at peace with your own mortality can be very liberating. As you emerge from the forest halfway up Granite Mountain and look to the ridge at the steep, blank slope, glinting in the early morning sun with a thin layer of ice, you quickly learn how comfortable you are with exposure to relentless and driving wind without shelter, to a fragile crust of ice over heavy and waist-deep snow, to the yaw of the contours of wind-blown dunes, to the avalanche-ready pitch of all routes to the ridge, and to your own transience should the mountain decide to slough a precarious layer. At 7:30am, one other group was in the ice-slick parking lot. They were heading directly up the chute. I turned north into the forest 1/4 mile from the wooden sign at the Pratt Lake junction, well before the main chute comes into view, and I kept a steady northern bearing directly to the summit. Despite thigh-deep snow in the lower forest, I decided not to switch my MICROSpikes for snow shoes based on experience with a similar slope and snow consistency on Teneriffe two weeks ago. On the exposed slope, I put on sunglasses and sunblock. The day was quickly warming, but the ice along the rocky spine was solid, and in some areas was difficult to kick or grip. Beargrass and scrub poked from cracks on Granite's wind-wiped western shoulder. On traverses farther from the boulders, the inch-thick surface easily broke in sheets from the lower, softer layer. Each step was deliberate to avoid post-holes between rocks or to minimize sinking and slipping on unsteady snow. Despite my hunger and slow pace, I decided to plow forward as soon as the lookout came into view, directly north at the end of the ridge. There was just no shelter from the biting cold of the unremitting wind. Once on top, I had the summit to myself for half an hour and was able to warm up with more layers, fresh gloves and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The descent was more exhausting than the morning climb. After slipping on verglas and twisting my legs in unfamiliar directions, I placed each weary step even more carefully. With crowds of people now overtaking the ridge, I lost my original path and drifted east in their well-broken footprints, eventually entering the forest on the summer trail much higher than where I had diverged from it in the morning. Somehow, despite my best efforts all day, I ended up crossing the Cloaca Maxima, where a group of three people were lolling. By 2:30pm, I was warming up in the car with a sore ankle, an aching knee, a wind-raw face and running nose, and the serenity of surviving Granite Mountain's indifferent caprice.

We found about 20 cars in the parking area on our arrival and after lending my hiking buddy a pair of wool socks (he had forgot his) we departed from the trailhead at 1:30 pm and wound our way up on the summer trail for a long way before encountering snow. We persisted on the snowy trail despite advice to head due north from our snow shoeing guide because we never saw a good route up due to the lack of good snow low on the mountain and we crossed the first few avalanche chutes on the trail. From the footprints it appeared that many people had chosen to shoot for the top via the chutes or had skied down and exited on foot through the chutes. Eventually, the boot path left the summer trail and headed steeply up toward the east shoulder of the mountain along a wide ridge. We donned snow shoes at this point because the afternoon snow was fairly soft. We passed our last descending hiker about 2/3rds of the way up and from that point on we had the mountain to ourselves. After gaining the shoulder the snow was much firmer, and we entered that magical world of freezing temperatures. We kept our snow shoes on for traction until we reached the top. The route along the ridgeline was well trodden. It looked like almost everyone took this route up, but tracks at the top indicated that many skied down directly south off the summit. Several descending hikers with raw faces that we had earlier encountered spoke about the good blow up top, but by the time we arrived in the late afternoon there was hardly any wind. It was below freezing, but sunny and we could see for miles in every direction. In other words, ideal conditions and the views were spectacular. The old lookout tower was covered with a thick coating of frost. After a 15 minute break, we headed down at 4:30 on our ascent route. We descended without snow shoes, although the snow became quite soft after we dropped some 500 feet. My partner glissaded a few times, but the snow was too soft to make this worthwhile. Mostly we just big stepped down and tried to keep from plunging into deep holes between rocks. The snow consisted of ice crystals rather than powder and it was heavy and seemed very reluctant to slide down the slope even though it was soft under foot. Given its steep incline and wide ridgelines, Granite is prime avalanche territory, and we agreed among ourselves that there is really no safe route to the top when avalanche risk is high despite any comments to the contrary in guidebooks. Today’s forecast from the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center was level 2 or moderate risk. Ice axe, hiking poles and snow shoes were useful at various stages of the hike and micro spikes would have helped if we had had them because in the transition zone between snow and earth the trail consists of packed snow that has turned to ice in many places. We arrived back at the trailhead at 6:00 pm and were home in time for dinner. We were happy for a great winter experience on a warm February day.

With avalanche danger low near Snoqualmie Pass, still winds and clear visibility to Mounts Adams and Rainier, today was the perfect day for a climb up Granite Mountain, perhaps for the last responsible time until June for someone with my technical ability and equipment. If not for the peak's popularity, a positive report from the weather center and my familiarity with the trail from two previous hikes, I might have remained giddily rattlepated of Granite's frigid, blank majesty. From the first glimpse of the summit's snowy tonsure from the highway, Granite's reputation for winter hazard seems justified. With five vehicles already at the plowed parking area at 9:15am and boot-packed snow at the trail-head, we knew our scheme was not completely harebrained. Folie à deux is far more likely than folie à plusieurs. We strapped-on microspikes at the entrance and wore them the entire day, through dense forest, across avalanche chutes, into clearings, over ice-covered, months-ago huckleberry fields up to the ridge line where we stopped 1/2 mile from the ranger station. Of the many-membered hiking group (many in Yak-Trax) and the two avalanche-chute climbers (without any foot traction) whom we encountered, only three continued along the ridge to the lookout. At least those three were linked with ropes, but none wore crampons. The colors of the lower trail, the greens and silver of light dust on pine, were vibrant and vivid this morning, an intensity heightened by the sun's two-week hiatus. Eye protection will help with the broad expanse of white on the upper trail. While the lower trail was in great shape, except for a large fallen tree that I did not remember from last September, we cut our own steps and posted through sometimes-deep powder on the foothill. Uncertainty about the stability of the cantilevers along the upper ridge stopped us. The ridge views were reward enough for today. Risking our lives for vanity and for the minimally better views from the top would have been excessive. When we arrived at the parking area at 3:15, we noticed a few more cars, definitely not the full crowd that comes during the summer, despite the generally safe conditions today and the exquisite views of the Cascades in the snow.