The road up and parking lot are plowed with light compact snow. The trail starts out with a light dusting of snow, but after the Talapus-Olallie-Granite junction it steadily increases, and mostly compacted by hikers on the trail. Nearer to the summit, snow is windblown and firm. I climbed with crampons and an ice ax, but I met two on the summit that ascended in boot chains. I felt crampons were more appropriate for the conditions. Granite is a gem in the winter and views of the cascades over the upper ridge are breath taking.

Started out around 10 a.m. and hit the trail upward. Left our crampons at base, because trail and weather seemed like they would not be neccesary. About 2/3 the way up we fell in behind some other hikers and as a group followed the footprints up the peak. Turns out we drifted right of the trail and found ourselves on the right side of a steep bowl. The other groups went left, and we decided to stick with our route because what we thought was the peak was in site. We had GPS and realized we were off trail, but continued. Well...this became the most difficult hike I have ever done. The snow gradually became harder, the route steeper, and we more fatigued. Just kicking in for toe holds began to take quite a while, and having no crampons, our climb was very slow. After struggling to reach the peak, we ended up more or less "stuck" about 500 yards from the top. We couldn't go left or right, and we couldn't safely head downhill over the rocky ground we had just covered. If we could have turned around, we probably would have. We had to gut it out and ended up hacking ice steps up on our hands and knees for several hundred feet with our ice axes. Slow, tedious, HARD work...I was so tired I wanted to throw up. Closer to the peak, the snow got a little softer, and we could continue in a more upright postion! Great at the top. Very scary hike that got out of control for us. Very hard hike with the ice and steep incline. Coming down was a challenge as well, but much quicker. What took us 2.5 hours to accent took us 10 minutes axe sliding down a slope!! 7 hours total for the hike, 5 up, 2 down. "stay on the trail, bring crampons!"

Hiked Granite Mountain Sunday, arrived at 8 am and only 2 cars at trailhead. By the time we headed out there were 20+. Trail is very slick and compacted through the wooded first few miles. Crampons or YakTrax would be very helpful. Once in the open snow was hit and miss. Some parts very icy, while others were light and you sunk like a rock. Overall not a ton of snow, Ice Axe, Crampons, would get the job done. Snow Shoes could also be helpful, just depends on how exposed the snow is. Ski Poles would also be helpful. View from the look out was awesome, windy, cold, but enough time to make some tea enjoy the view and hike back down. Saw 15 people headed up, when we were headed out, very slick on the way down so take your time and plant your feet firmly and should be OK. Happy Hiking. SoleMan

Headed out about 730am the snow on the trail was frozen still so footing to moderate effort. Some open spots to dirt/rock on trail. After an hour or so the snow got softer and I threw on the snowshoes to minimize postholing. Once at the first gully headed up through the trees towards the ridge (winter route). No avy issues as the snow was locked in tight. Beautiful day with the Mountain out fully but could tell the folks at Snoqualmie skiing were sauked in. Of course I didn't pack the camera. Hit the lookout after 2.5 hours. Windy on ridge but fun none the less. wore my crampons on solid snow from lookout to ridge for ease of travel then heel plunged untilt he tree line. THe two guys up before me created some great glissade chutes through the trees that were suprisingly good. took 1 hour an 1 minute to get to the parking lot. A few people heading up with telemark gear likely made some great turns heading down. Ice axe recommended...pack crampons too as the windswept ridge can be dicey depending on the day. Cheers.