[ragman and rodman]

Many refer to Tusk O'Granite as the west summit of Granite Mountain... at 5566 feet, the tusk is 63 feet lower than the true summit of Granite Mountain, but it pretty much offers the same views... and more importantly this time of year, it offers an avalanche-safe route to a nearby summit. The crux of this trip was getting out of the ice-covered parking lot... requiring a Class 2 move to get from the lot to the trailhead kiosk. We stayed on the Pratt Lake Trail for a half-mile beyond the turnoff for Talapus and Olallie Lakes... where we put on our snowshoes (~4000') and started working our way up to the NW ridge (~4500') of the tusk... then slogged our way up the fairly steep NW ridge to the summit (5566') in very windy conditions. After hiding in a small stand of trees for lunch we traced our steps back to the car. 10.6 miles roundtrip, gaining 3823 feet of elevation. BarbE, Snowdog and Izzy had used the same NW ridge route two days earlier... and we were able to follow their tracks to within 200 feet of the summit where the wind had completely covered them up. We used spikes/crampons while on the packed down trail and snowshoes for the off-trail work... the spikes/crampons were very helpful in dealing with the down-and-back-up stream crossings. Photos, trailhead directions and downloadable GPS track of our trip to Tusk O'Granite. ..

[RichP]

We ran into Rodman at the Preston P&R on the way to our hike. I am impressed that he is able to do such strenuous hikes at 76! I just hope i am able to get out of bed successfully at that age if I make it that far.

[Sculpin]

[ragman and rodman]

[jdk610]

Great info, thanks!

[awilsondc]

This one is high up on my winter to-do list. Thanks for sharing your GPS info, it will be very useful. Great photos too! I love the view of Kaleetan from that angle. It's a miracle there is a class 3 route up that!

[nordique]

Thanks for the age info! So, despite all the amazing ascents, year-round, that guy is two years older than me--and he routinely does double the miles and double the gain that I can manage--or more!