Trip Report
CHS 2 Hike - Granite Lakes via Granite Creek
Lovely morning hike complete with 30 sunny minutes (swim/wade) at the lake.
Courtenay Schurman
- Tue, May 5, 2026
- CHS 2 Hike - Granite Lakes via Granite Creek
- Granite Creek Trail
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Discover Pass is needed. The one-way road continues to be cordoned off, and there remains a one-lane-only section of road but entirely passable. Latrines are open and stocked with TP. The trail has been cleared of most major obstacles, although the Connector remains closed to foot traffic.
I was stunned to see how many blow downs this area has experienced - whole sections of forest. But someone has been busy with chain saws - only a few crawl overs/unders required. There is also one narrowing of the trail in about the first mile where wash-outs are removing dirt (pictured). Not sure how long the trail will remain passable at that point.
Everyone had trekking poles for stream crossings, but they're doable without, especially following the warm weather we've had recently - only faint patches of snow near the lake and higher up, none on the trail. At times stream crossings on this route have numbered into the 20ss but we had more like 15 - less running water this time of year than usual.
11 of us from the Seattle Mountaineers CHS-2 cohort hit the trail at 8:15 AM under cloudy skies and were rewarded with sun for 35 minutes at the lake. We had it mostly to ourselves until traffic started coming up after us - more than we expected for a Tuesday morning in early May.
Lots of slugs were out, trilliums (pollinated purples and whites) are gorgeous, bleeding hearts are everywhere, and yellow violets as well. We heard 21 species on the day including a red-breasted sapsucker drumming on one of the parking lot signs (to attract a mate, I guess) and several warblers among the varied thrushes and Pacific wrens.
Our pace was 2.2 mph up and 2.6 down for 2.4 average, and we were all back to the cars before 1 even with 30 minutes at the lake where 2 swam and 2 others waded (including me!)
Lovely group, lively conversation, and a beautiful morning for a hike complete with wade and swim.