One Saturday morning in October, Justin and I decided to tackle Granite mountain again. We knew the opportunity to do so would be fleeting due to the plummeting temperatures and the fact that the mountains would shortly be covered in snow, and thus, too dangerous. So, while the little boys were sleeping, we took off for the mountains. Pictures, as always, tell this kind of story best:
Justin getting our electrolyte infused water ready to go.
And at the
trailhead...US!
Signing in.... and then the fun began!
About 3/4 of the way up, we started to run into some white stuff. That was cold. Hey-oh, it's snow!
This hike was absolutely breathtaking on this day: completely clear, unaltered views of Rainier and the cascade mountain range, astounding fall colors.
A picture of my guy climbing up amongst the fall colors and snow.
Snow covered trees at the top, looks like winter!
And at the VERY top, gorgeous views of the range.
And another shot. Seriously. Unbelievable. It just leaves me in a state of awe.
And another shot of the range with Rainier in the background. The hike was hard. As expected. But it was compounded by the fact that earlier in the week, I'd been my usual clumsy self and had taken a topple down a flight of stairs. I KNOW. I sometimes make myself laugh, too. Apparently it helps to pick your feet UP when you're walking down stairs and not kick yourself in the back of the leg, thus making yourself fall down 15 stairs. Ahem. Anyway, lesson learned, but as a result, my right quad/hip
flexor had been messed up all week. As in, I didn't run (huge deal). When we talked about a hike
friday night, I knew it would be painful but I thought I could tough it out as the weather was supposed to be perfect and I really wanted to get one last hike in. It was AWFUL (at least in regards to the leg pain) and that was with doping up on
Ibuprofen before we left. Oh well, I made it,
stubbornness and all, and it was WELL worth it. AND, we even beat our time to boot so I was quite impressed that even in pain, we completely rocked it. We made it to the summit in less than 2 hours (1:58 to be exact) which is quite a feat given the distance and steepness of the hike. Most people take around 3-3.5 hours to make it to the top...we were flying. We flew down, too, and then headed home to turn right around with the boys to help Justin's mom in south
Seattle with some house projects and to have dinner with her that night. I spent the night there icing and stretching my poor aching leg but was incredibly happy and exhausted from our last
rendezvous in the mountains for this years' summer season.
Justin getting our electrolyte infused water ready to go.
And at the trailhead...US!
Signing in.... and then the fun began!
About 3/4 of the way up, we started to run into some white stuff. That was cold. Hey-oh, it's snow!
This hike was absolutely breathtaking on this day: completely clear, unaltered views of Rainier and the cascade mountain range, astounding fall colors.
A picture of my guy climbing up amongst the fall colors and snow.
Snow covered trees at the top, looks like winter!
And at the VERY top, gorgeous views of the range.
And another shot. Seriously. Unbelievable. It just leaves me in a state of awe.
And another shot of the range with Rainier in the background. The hike was hard. As expected. But it was compounded by the fact that earlier in the week, I'd been my usual clumsy self and had taken a topple down a flight of stairs. I KNOW. I sometimes make myself laugh, too. Apparently it helps to pick your feet UP when you're walking down stairs and not kick yourself in the back of the leg, thus making yourself fall down 15 stairs. Ahem. Anyway, lesson learned, but as a result, my right quad/hip flexor had been messed up all week. As in, I didn't run (huge deal). When we talked about a hike friday night, I knew it would be painful but I thought I could tough it out as the weather was supposed to be perfect and I really wanted to get one last hike in. It was AWFUL (at least in regards to the leg pain) and that was with doping up on Ibuprofen before we left. Oh well, I made it, stubbornness and all, and it was WELL worth it. AND, we even beat our time to boot so I was quite impressed that even in pain, we completely rocked it. We made it to the summit in less than 2 hours (1:58 to be exact) which is quite a feat given the distance and steepness of the hike. Most people take around 3-3.5 hours to make it to the top...we were flying. We flew down, too, and then headed home to turn right around with the boys to help Justin's mom in south Seattle with some house projects and to have dinner with her that night. I spent the night there icing and stretching my poor aching leg but was incredibly happy and exhausted from our last rendezvous in the mountains for this years' summer season. 
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