Granite Peak Trail

Midweek after Christmas we got a 2-3 inch covering of snow in North Bend followed by temperatures that stayed below freezing. Best of all, the skies cleared and we could see the sun. There wasn't much more snow at the base of Snoqualmie Pass at the Granite Peak/Pratt Lakes trailhead when we started out around noon. With several vehicles in the parking lot, and their occupants on the trail ahead, we weren't surprised to find no need for snowshoes. Even as we climbed higher, the tree foliage seemed to be holding most of the snowfall and the trail remained easily hikable on foot. At the one-mile mark we turned onto the Granite Peak Trail and started climbing more steeply. Another thousand feet of elevation gain brought us to the open slide path that the trail paralleled. We strapped on the snowshoes and stomped out into the thigh-deep snow of a clearing to a spot with a splendid view across the valley to Silver and Tinkham Peaks: another scenic lunch spot. On the way out we kept our snowshoes on until we started to run into some little stream crossings above the junction, then walked down the rest of the way.

Back at the car around 1500, I drove in along the road to Denny Creek CG to the end of plowing at the last private cabin. There were a dozen cars parked there - hikers heading for Franklin Falls (2+mi, or 0.6 mi from Alpental Road) or up the trail toward Melakwa Lake? Cars were also parked on the plowed road into the Annette Lake trailhead - looked like a busy day for snow hikers although we saw only three parties on our short trip (four if you count the family looking for a sledding spot in the woods near the Granite parking lot).