Granite Mountain (winter)

As of November 15th Granite Mountain was mostly free of snow. There was a thin layer of ice and snow covering the final part of the summer trail as it traverses west towards the lookout. Microspikes were in order for the slippery trail conditions although it was easy enough to step off trail to find terrain with better traction. We reached the summit in two hours and forty-five minutes. It was cold and breezy so we started heading back down after about 30 minutes. On account of the clear weather there were lots of people out. When we returned to the trailhead there was a long line of cars parked along the road leading to the parking lot. We are into the winter scramble season by calendar date but the conditions made this outing a hike.