It's already the middle of July, and due to COVID and the general chaos of 2020, we haven't done any hiking yet. I ask Jeannie if she wants to do a hike for our twenty-second anniversary and she agrees! We set out on a very warm Sunday afternoon for the Granite Creek Trail. This is actually a rather new trailhead that we haven't been to before, and should be a bit off the beaten path compared to the more popular I-90 corridor hikes. There is an old trail that starts right next to the Mailbox Peak trailhead, but the new trail is over a mile shorter. Note: this trailhead is managed by the state and NOT the US Forest Service, so you need a Discover Pass to park here. The trailhead is at a very low 900' of elevation.
The first mile or so of the trail is brand new,
built in 2012. It has some decent elevation gain, but is wide and easy to walk on - ferns and other woodland plants line the way through the forest. We reach the junction with the old trail to the Mailbox Peak area, which is now called the Granite Creek Connector Trail. The way gets a little rougher but is not quite as steep, and at around 1.5 miles we reach a very sturdy new bridge over Granite Creek. This bridge was lowered into place by helicopter as part of the trail rebuilding project, and gives us our first and only real views of Granite Creek for the day, unless you count the outlet from Upper Granite Lake far above.
On the other wide of the bridge, the trail continues through low elevation bushes and more forest. Elderberry and salmonberry are seen, but not many of the huckleberries that are found on most alpine hikes. I can tell that during spring this trail may be rather wet - we cross over many different streams coming down from the flanks of the unnamed hill to our left. One stream has caused a huge washout that cleared out a 30 foot wide gully across the trail. This hike does not enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, or national forest land, but is instead part of the
Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Resources Conservation Area (how's that for a mouthful!).
For this first hike of season, I am really struggling to make it up the hill - several months off from soccer due to COVID has not been great for my cardio health. Jeannie chugs up the hill without even breaking a sweat. Just when I think I can't go much further, we reach a junction. To the left, the trail climbs another 1,200' to a ridge above Thompson Lake, then enters the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and drops to the lake. We go to the right toward
Granite Lakes instead. In theory the way should be flat since the junction matches the lake's elevation, but in practice the path has some baffling up and down for another half a mile. After scrambling over the outlet stream on some rocks, we have reached Granite Lakes!
I haven't brought my map with me today, so I am not sure whether we are at Upper Granite Lake or Lower Granite Lake. However, I guess it must be the upper one, since the uphill side of this lake does not leave room for another one. There are quite a few people at the lake, though the shoreline is not very accessible - the aforementioned huckleberries are now in full force, along with some alder, and do a good job at preventing access. We don't have the energy to navigate around the lake, so we find a shady couple of rocks to sit on for lunch. As is obligatory on summer hikes, I take off my boots and socks and do a bit of wading in the lake. It's not an ideal lake for swimming due to the shoreline, but I see a couple people attempting it.
Hunger satisfied, we head back down / up the trail. I make a half-hearted attempt to find the lower lake, but without my map I don't feel like traipsing around in the brush for too long. Maybe there is a way trail somewhere, but we don't find it. After getting home, I can see the lower lake is about where I thought it might be, but it's not visible from the trail and is about 100' below it. The way back presents no difficulties, other than our tired feet. I plan to be back on this trail again to check off Thompson Lake, and most likely Spider Lake along with it, as an overnight trip. The camping and swimming at Thompson Lake is rumored to be excellent.
Stats
Time: 4 hours
Distance: 7.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 2200'
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