Granite Mountain, July 2012

Granite Mountain
Date: July 27, 2012
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to the top.
Hiking With: Rick Massie

I have been absent from the Cascade mountains because of traveling so I was needing a Northwest hike to bring me back to reality. I asked Rick Massie to join me on one of my favorite local hiking trails, Granite Mountain.

Rick came by the house around 6:00 a.m. and loaded his gear into my car, but when I started the car up to take off…my 10 year old 530i decided he was tired. My battery was dead so I quickly got out the charger and started the beast up. We started at the trailhead around 7:15 a.m. and made it to the top in a couple of hours. The trail was dry to the top, but the normal summer route was still packed with snow. We took the boulder field all the way to the look-out tower.

After the hike, we met up with an ex-worker, Jenny Gregg at Duke’s on Lake Union for lunch and a cold beer.