Started up the trail at 10:45am with no snow on the trail. Didn't put on snowshoes until the Alpine Lakes boundary sign. Snow was very soft, wet and heavy. Boot steps kicked in the snow up the main gully for 400' vertical, then veered to the left to follow the West Arm up to the tower. Had to take snowsnoes back off on the steep slope as the snow was soft enough to prevent traction. Definitely bring an ice axe but boots are good enough if you don't have snow shoes. Fantastic view from the summit and a quick slide back down.

Gorgeous day with low avalanche danger; a bunch of us hauled our snowboards up to the lookout to enjoy a fun ride. Snow starts just after Granite Mt. trail turn-off. Took the west arm route, following the boot track up the avalanche gully. Crampons/ice axes needed for last bit from W arm to lookout, though the snow softened toward the afternoon. Busy day! Descent thru avalanche gully is fun due to natural-halfpipe aspect. Beware of creek holes toward the bottom; follow the boot track out, bushwacking west until you hit the trail.

Tried the winter route on Granite Mt. Trail was hard packed snow. Could have used traction devices. Above treeline (4400') the snow was very hard. Foolishly left my crampons at home. Sigh... Good news: I deemed the gully safe to glissade, dropping 1000' in a couple of minutes. Bad news: Lost trekking poles. Please see lost and found. R/T 6 miles, 2600' gain, 3:40 car to car.

Thought we'd give Granite a try since it was such a gorgeous day and we figured the snow conditions were a little more settled. Yup. Real settled! Almost immediately we hit slick (but do-able) snow in the woods. Alot of the small branches and twigs that came down in the windstorms helped provide some traction and there was room to navigate on the edge of the trail as well. We proceded up beside the first avalanche gully, following some old steps which were a little deep but not too bad (except for the occasional thigh deep ones, ouch, that must have hurt someone...). As we got out of the trees we had hoped for softer snow but it actually was even harder and the wind was getting stronger. It was a crampon kind of day and we only had snowshoes so we retreated to a calm spot for a nice lunch with good friends on a beautiful day. Life IS good. But until there is new snow, ice axes and crampons will be necessary to visit the lookout.

Two of us enjoyed a beautiful day in complete solitude on this trail off of Exit 47/I-90. Beware: lack of recent new snow has turned the existing snowpack into a rock-hard surface in a lot of areas. Granite Mountain trail currently is more suitable for crampons/ice axe than snowshoes. Even the parking lot is a sheet of ice. Avalanche danger is pretty much non-existant, but be cautious out there. Some of the snow in the wide draws on Granite is so hard that a boot can barely leave a mark, and these areas can be exposed from time to time. I remarked to my climbing partner that some under-equipped hiker is going to head out in this nice weather spell, have a slip on hard snow, and get banged up really badly. Make sure that's not you.