Granite Mountain
Date: April 9, 2015
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles / 13.8 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,158 meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Fresh Snow At Higher Elevation
Hiking With: Dr. Richard Stiles & my dog Macho

I knew we had a couple of sunny days approaching so I decided to take a day of vacation from work to hike Granite Mountain goo.gl/M4Xqcz just 47 miles East of Seattle. Even though the hike was in middle of the week, I was able to find an adventurous soul to appreciate this thigh pounding sunny hike; I picked up Dr. Richard Stiles mid-morning on Thursday and headed out to Exit 47 off Interstate 90.

The last time I hiked with Dr. Stiles was 10 years ago the summer of 2005 when I was training for Mt. Rainier. He hasn’t misplaced any speed with his pace either, the doctor led the way with a vigorous stride that totally impressed me.

Trail conditions were good until you broke-out in the high meadows and started hiking is semi-slushy snow. We decided to put on our traction devices on during our first break at the beginning of the basin where the snow was getting deeper. We started to ascend to the look-out tower via the basin and midway through traversed back up to the ridge and boulder field. The heavy snow in the basin definitely increased my heart rate, but my poor dog Macho had to deal with the deep snow and boulder field. There was a couple of times I actually had to pick him up to get him to the next boulder.

After a few pictures, warm tea and snacks at the summit we descended through the basin to finish off a perfect day.