Granite Mountain

I (Tom) had hopes of a fall hike to see the golden larch trees after my return to Seattle from the East Coast. Weather reports indicated only a 1-day window before the onset of winter-like weather. So, despite wanting a bit of time to rest up from the East Coast trip, I knew what had to be done. A quick check of the trip reports confirmed that the larches were at their peak in the North Cascades (Rainy Pass area), but also that some snow would likely be encountered on the trail. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Brian's micro-spikes (for snow/ice traction while hiking), so the 3 hour drive each way seemed a bit much with the uncertainty of being able to reach the larches.

Instead, I opted to stay closer to home ... Granite Mountain for a final fall hurrah. There wouldn't be larches, but there would likely be lots of colors on the open slopes. However, those pesky larches continued to tug on my brain, so I took a chance and drove over towards the Lake Ingall's trail. But, I lost the bet ... the Teanaway River Road, which was rumored to be opening that morning after being closed due to fire danger, was still closed. Oh well. A relatively short drive back to Granite Mountain, and off I went.

This is a very direct hike (about 3850' of gain in 3.8 miles). About half way up, I'm thinking, "Tom, if you go to the top, you won't be able to walk tomorrow, cuz you haven't been getting any serious excercize for quite some time". But then, I broke out of the woods, the fall colors started appearing, and they kept calling me. When I finally hit the first snow patches, I had already decided I was only going to stop if it got too icy (to hell with not being able to walk!). The trail was more-or-less compact snow and ice for the last 1/2 mile or so, and it wasn't a too treacherous on the way up. And the views kept getting better and better. And the combinations of colors, combined with the light snow cover, were just magical!

A quick sandwich and a few pictures by the lookout, and back down I went. Well, that snow and ice was much more challenging on the way down ... not a huge problem, but I just had to take it real slow. The great back-lit colors traversing the high open slopes had me wearing an ear-to-ear grin! Not too surprisingly, the trail also is very direct going down ... particularly for the old knees. After driving home, I could barely get out of the car and up the front steps. Fortunately, however, I was walking mostly normally the next day! And, I had all those visual treats stored in my head ... to last through the winter!