April 7, 2011, Granite Mountain

An excellent afternoon on Granite Mountain! There was snow at the trailhead, but not much, so we walked the trail to 2800', then skinned up through the forest. Above treeline, visibility was pretty intermittent; that and the wind made for a distinct alpine feel. The 3+ feet of amorphous fresh snow were starting to consolidate nicely, although we could make out some fresh fracture lines and point-source soft snow slides on the southern aspects leading down into the main avalanche gully. We ascended the wind-scoured south shoulder to the summit, where things really didn't feel much like spring! For the run down, we followed the tree-lined ridge skirting the west bowl, 1500' of blissful powder turning to blissful chowder. Successfully avoided monster tree wells in the forest, and traversed east until we picked up the trail again. There was nobody else around, and it's April, and we could have been working...priceless.