Granite Mountain Hike

Hike Description: 8.6 mile trail with a 4000 ft. elevation gain located near North Bend. I get most of my trail/hike info off of the AllTrails app, I love it! This trail was rated as difficult, and as I sit here this evening I can tell you that I feel pretty sore so I'm giving you fair warning if you attempt this hike. You will definitely feel the burn with this one guys and gals! Some of my hiking buds brought trekking poles, and I decided after this hike I am going to be investing in a pair!

I met up with my lady friends and we carpooled in. We started at the trail-head around 9:30 in the morning, there were already quite a few cars parked at the site.

It was drizzling lightly when we started out, but under the cover of trees we stayed relatively dry. The fog looked so beautiful coming through the trees! The terrain started out relatively innocuous, but we soon began  our ascent and then sh*t got real! We went through an avalanche chute and climbed. Then we climbed some more. Did I mention we did some climbing? I was simultaneously trying not to die while being proud of myself, because the old me six months ago really would have croaked on that trail! I am so grateful for the strength my body gives me, and I hope to continue to treat it well and take good care of myself so I can continue to enjoy pursuits like these.

I'm a geek when it comes to trying to classify the different flora and fauna I see when I'm out in nature. I was not disappointed on this trail! Lots of cool stuff to see, I wish I had taken more pictures but in between photo ops I was huffing and puffing up that seemingly endless trail. I didn't want to be the whiny "Are we there yet?" person so I took my time and enjoyed the scenery.

I looked through my friend Rachel's flower book after the hike while we were drinking beers at the Snoqualmie Brewery & Taproom. The flowers on the left were Canadian dogwood. It's fitting to see this today, as it happens to also be Canada Day! I have Canadian cousins, so I hope they're partying it up in the Great White North! The picture on the right shows Beargrass, which I think looks really beautiful. I wonder if it's related to the Allium genus? Now the purple flowers I couldn't find in Rachel's book, and I didn't know what they were off the top of my head. They were very pretty, especially with the dew/condensation on the leaves. 

Pretty little waterfall along the trail

Not many people were on the trail, which was nice compared to some of the other more popular local trails. The people we did run into were very friendly, and as a bonus many of them brought dogs! My cats Boo and Tigre would murder a dog that dared enter their domain, so it's nice to get my doggy fix when I'm out and about.

Getting close to the top

As we got closer to the top of the mountain, there were more patches of snow scattered about. While everyone in my group wore their good sturdy hiking boots, not everyone brought trekking poles for traction in the slushy, slippery snow.

Other folks attempted the trek up through the snow, but our party decided to play it safe. We hung out near the top, talked to other hikers, and enjoyed our well deserved lunches. We decided that next time we would all come more prepared and hike up to the very tippy top! The cloud cover was very dense up at the elevation, so I hope the next time is more clear and sunny so we get an unobstructed view. We made the trek back down and reached our cars around 2:30 in the afternoon, so we finished the hike in the average posted time of roughly five hours. I enjoyed the hike and the sense of accomplishment and camaraderie the day brought, but something tells me my body is going to give me some payback in the next couple days for putting it to work!