Granite Mountain

 Drove up I-90 just west of Snoqualmie Pass to hike up to Granite Mountain, 9 miles round trip with 3,800 ft of gain.

The first few miles are up through the forest.

Nice fall colors as we neared the higher elevations of Granite Mountain. Fire Lookout is on the summit.

a small stream

We could see Mt Rainier to the south.

zoom of Mt Rainier, a cloud was forming between us and the mountain 

We enjoyed eating ripe blueberries.

The fall colors were fabulous!

We also enjoyed this "flattish" section of the trail, before the final uphill to the summit of Granite Mountain.

View of the lookout atop Granite Mountain through the fall foliage.

Wonderful views of nearby Cascade Peaks, and Glacier Peak to the north.

zoom of Glacier Peak

Basking in the 360 degree views atop Granite Mountain. Mt Baker in the far distance.

zoom of a very distant Mt Baker

The clouds high above seemed painted on the sky.

Below us to the north are Tuscohatchie and Crystal Lakes.

Fire Lookout on Granite Mountain and a cloudy Mt Rainier.

views to the northeast

zoom of Mt Stuart

views to the southeast,  Keechelus Lake in the distance

views to the west, in the very far distance: Puget Sound area covered in clouds and further west the Olympic Mountains

The fire lookout on Granite Mountain

As we hiked down the trail, we found a boot track to this view of Tuscohatchie and Crystal Lakes.

The colors seemed brighter in the afternoon sun as we hiked down the trail.

Here, the fire lookout on Granite Mountain looks tiny.

Last it of trail before the steep journey back down Granite Mountain.

We saw a coyote on the hillside. (pc Kim Chaing)

On our way down the trail.

Granite Mountain

 Hiked up to Granite Mountain today in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness off of I-90. This is a 8.6 mile roundtrip hike with 3,800 ft of gain.
The fall colors were gorgeous.

 This hike is a continual uphill hike.
It was cloudy, but we could see the local peaks across the freeway.

 The colors were vibrant.

We were excited to see blue skies when we first saw the fire lookout up onto of Granite Mountain.

 Last bit of trail up to the lookout.

 We had a brief glimpse of Mt Rainier to the south, before it disappeared in the clouds.













Views of the nearby Cascade peaks between the clouds.

 Found the benchmark up on Granite Mountain.

 View of Tuscohatchie and Crystal Lakes below Granite Mountain.

More views of the lookout

 The fall colors seemed a bit brighter on the hike down under the blue skies.