Granite Peak Half Hike

Zahaira Velez and myself ascended 4000 feet up Granite Peak in the Trinity Alps, stopping around 500 feet short of the summit due to an ache in Zahaira's hip, which was fine with me, I've summited twice already. It was a perfect day on the mountain despite the lack of a summit...the sun was bright, temperatures were warm, and a half foot of snow covered the upper slopes. I enjoyed breaking trail above treeline. The views of Shasta and Lassen were great. All in all a top 10 November hike.

Google map location is here.

Middle Peak - Trinity Alps

I hiked Middle Peak (8,095 feet) on November 11th, a mountain that was immediately adjacent to Granite Peak, which I hiked just a few days before. The trailhead for Middle Peak starts at a gratuitous 4,500 feet, and I made easy work of switchbacks the led to Stoney Ridge. Heading left at Stoney Ridge leads to Red Mountain, while a rightward turn leads to Middle Peak. I took the right turn, and encountered easy class 3 slab scrambling. After the scrambling, I made one last upward push and gained the summit. The views were fantastic. Mount Shasta dominated the northern horizon, Granite Peak was to my immediate south, Lassen Volcano loomed east, and the heart of the Trinity Alps was located to my west. After enjoying the view, I quickly descended back to my truck. I completed this hike in around 5 hours; 11 miles round trip and 3,500 vertical feet up.

Google map location is here.

Granite Peak - Trinity Alps

I made my second ascent of Granite Peak (8,094 feet) during early November, this time with Zahaira Velez. I thought the second time might be easier than the first, but I was wrong. However, I made better time to the summit this time around, and we completed the 8+ mile ~10,000 ft. up/down vertical roundtrip in slightly over six hours. A half inch of fresh new snow covered much of the trail, but ground temperatures were still warm and snow posed no traction issues. I think the best part of the hike was ascending through clouds that billowed up in response to early November sun, melting snow, and a very cold airmass aloft.

Google map location is here.