Granite Creek Trail to Granite Lakes — Friday, Feb. 13, 2026

🌲✨PNW magic! ✨🌲 couldn’t ask for a more beautiful cozy day hike. 🥰 I was planning on trying mailbox, but wanted to wait for a day with more visibility and less moisture for rock scrambling, so opted for a trail with a lower elevation, no peaks, and a lake destination. Boy howdy I was not disappointed! This is maybe one of my new favorite hikes. Granite creek was a constant companion. I only visited the first lake I came to, but it was a gorgeous expanse of thin ice surrounded by stately mountains and alpine vibes. I saw a pika or marmot. I don’t know. They were so cute and patient.

Five other humans and one dog (what’s up Ollie!) Happy to meet a wildlife photographer and I hope they find their pigmy owl.

Bathroom report: gender neutral for the win! (technically bigender, but whatever) two single-stall vault toilets. The one I visited was 75th percentile for not grossness, so it was pretty good I guess. Glad my hover muscles weren’t totally burned out. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Plenty of TP.