A beautiful day, but best not to push my luck

4/17/2025 Granite Mountain, Winter Route

This was a hike to remember, for many reasons. In the summer, Granite Mountain is a great leg-burner with outstanding views. Today seemed like a good day to try the winter route, being the bluebird day that it was, although, as it turned out, maybe too warm. The winter route modifies the trail in two different places to avoid step side slopes and avalanche prone areas. In doing so, the trail is even steeper and the deep snow makes the trek considerably more strenuous.

I had read that you cross several avalanche chutes on the way up. Fortunately, the chutes were snow-free, even though the lines of debris were avalanches occurred were very clear. At around 4300 feet elevation, there was some lingering snow, which soon turned to full snow.

Once I got above the tree line, the snow was significant. As I climbed the ridgeline towards the lookout, I got increasingly nervous about the danger of slipping in either direction. Without an ice axe, I feared I would not be able to self-arrest from a slide. Two hundred yards from the lookout (the red dot below), with no one else in sight, I made the wise choice to turn around. It is rare for me to feel this uneasy about a hiking situation, but my self-preservation instincts served me well.

I was still able to enjoy the mountain views and clear skies from the safety of the snow field, where I took my time eating lunch and regaining my composure.

My decision to turn around was confirmed when I slipped several times in a less perilous stretch below the snow field, as the sun made the snow slushy and very slippery.

I can now remove the winter route from my bucket list and will keep Granite Mountain on my list of summer favorites.