We hadn't planned on hiking in the McCall area, but while searching online from our hotel room Sunday night, we came across Granite Mountain Lookout and decided to add it to our itinerary. When we awoke Monday morning it was raining hard, but despite the weather, we headed for the lookout hoping the storm would break as predicted by 9:00 AM. As we arrived at the trailhead the rain stopped and the clouds began to lift and we enjoyed one of our best hikes of the entire trip!
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Granite Mountain (8,480 ft)
The sun is coming up . . . the clouds are clearing . . . it's going to be a good day! |
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We usually are disappointed by these trailhead signs . . .
We often wonder if the person who wrote the description ever hiked the trail . . .
To our surprise this one was very accurate and quite informative! |
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Looking towards Slab Butte (8,225 ft)
Even though it appears to be a gently sloped butte, it's actually a knife edge ridge . . .
It looks like a fun hike for a future date and Slab Lake is on the other side with golden trout! |
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About a half-mile into the hike (which is an old road) we came to this intersection . . .
Once we headed for the lookout we left the road and ascended on a very good trail |
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| Looking down on Goose Lake and some beautiful Fall colors |
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Always good to see wildlife
(We understand there are mountain goats that frequent this peak, but we didn't see any) |
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| After switchbacking through the forest, the trail broke out below a large granite boulder field |
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| As we began to climb through the boulder field the views really became impressive |
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| Working through these boulders was probably Kent's favorite part of the trail |
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| Once through the boulder field, the lookout tower quickly came into view on the ridgeline |
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Granite Mountain Lookout
Originally built in 1916, it was torn down in 1955 and was replaced by this tower,
which looks quite a bit like the original |
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We made it!
We milled around a bit hoping the Fire Lookout would invite us up the tower |
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Remember those rain clouds we were so worried about?
As the storm began to break up, it left us with some incredible cloud draped ridgelines! |
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It was so much fun to be above the clouds . . .
We'll go so far as to say that we preferred this cloudy day over a clear bright sunny one! |
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| Everything looked better after the storm . . . even the outhouse! |
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The clouds continued to move up the mountain and engulf us in fog . . .
But moments later would sail on by and keep the magical feeling alive! |
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| After a bit, the Fire Lookout came out and offered us the opportunity to climb the tower |
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| When we reached the catwalk we were greeted by Selway |
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| Then we met Selway's owner, Grace, who was from Missoula, MT |
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| Grace (and Selway) were kind enough to let Allison slip inside and get a picture of where they live and work |
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One last look at the tower before we leave . . .
Grace had arrived in June and was scheduled to leave in a couple more weeks |
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| Walking the ridgeline and heading back towards the boulder field |
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| A nice view that gave us a deeper look in the Salmon Mountain Range |
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| Making our way through Kent's favorite section of the trail |
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Almost back to the trailhead . . .
Kent was checking out the nice brook trout that were hiding under this log |
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As we passed through the town of New Meadow, Idaho, we were able to get one last look at Granite Mountain . . .
We were surprised to see the clouds had surrounded the top, blocking our view of the tower . . .
Give it a few minutes . . . they'll pass! |
We can't say enough good about this hike! From meeting Grace & Selway, to the incredible views that were created by the inclement weather, to an amazing boulder field. Every aspect of this hike was more than we were expecting! If you'd like more information on Granite Mountain Trail you can click
here for a Forest Service link. Altogether, we hiked close to 6-miles (r/t) and gained about 1,750 ft in total elevation on a well maintained trail. Put this one on your list if you happen to be in the McCall area!
