Given the recent heavy rains, I was a bit worried about overly soft snow. It wasn't too bad, however, and as we neared the top my fear of unstable snow melted away (ha). There was actually an inch or two of wet fresh snow on the upper part of the mountain (at elevations of 7500+ feet and above).
Before noon we were standing on the summit rocks of Granite Peak. We couldn't see much of anything except white, above, below - everywhere. We could see that a steep headwall dropped away to the east, but that was about it. We'd made it, and at least it wasn't raining on us!
Jenn on Granite Peak Summit
With not much to see, and with a tiny bit of sleet starting to come down, we didn't stay long. We quickly plunge stepped down the soft snow, making excellent time. The weather deteriorated, and we were glad we'd gotten off the top when we did. It wasn't long before we descended enough that the precipitation was back to rain.
An hour later we were 3/5ths of the way back down, and back on solid ground. The rain again let up and the visibility actually improved (of course, now that we were almost off the mountain!!!). We arrived back at the trailhead at 3:24pm, about 1:40 minutes after leaving the summit.
Interactive Trackmap, Granite Peak Hike - Click map to Expand.
Start Time:
8:21a.m.
End Time:
3:24p.m.
Duration:
7h2m
Distance:
10.65 km
(6.62 mi)
Average Speed:
1.5 km/hr
(0.9 mph)
Start Elevation:
3596ft
(1096m)
*
Max Elevation:
8062ft
(2457m)
*
Min Elevation:
3596ft
(1096m)
*
End Elevation:
3687ft
(1124m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
4292ft
(1308m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
3654ft
(1114m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
