It all started it out so beautifully. Old-growth forest towering above, making your way up to beautiful wild flowers, an avalanche chute turned waterfall, gorgeous sweeping views as you come above the tree line. One direction takes you up the snow route, where you need spikes and poles. The other is the boot path trail, which leads you to a decently steep class 3…occasionally 4 scramble up to the lookout. Everything was easy peasy and I’d made great time, even with stopping to take pictures and admire the beauty. As I got to the top, a Group was descending. The weather was crisp with a small amount of fog in the air. That changed in about a min. Fog rolled in and I couldn’t see for more than 15ft in front of me. Cell reception was gone, GPS wasn’t working. And guess who didn’t have a compass and map. Maybe it would’ve worked, maybe not but I’ll never know. (I know. Never again). I made my way back down, but not being able to see anything makes navigating a bit challenging. Long story short, I ended up climbing down in a spiral and wound up almost between Tusk o’ Granite and Crystal Lake before I got out of the fog and devices started working again. Once I got everything, I had to climb back up again. Everything kept working but once back in the (now) less dense fog, it kept changing directions and tried to lead me off a cliff a couple times, which lead to me climbing up 3 times and practicing my mountain goat skills for a couple hours. I finally made it back down, but it was a solid 3 hours before I saw another person. She’s aptly named, and granite is comprised of ferrous metal and quartz, both affect electronics as well as space/time. (Check out the University Of Colorado/JILA’s research on strontium clocks or WA State Vortex Triangle for more on that) Granite Mountain is a  mysterious beauty. Don’t take her for “Granite”.

additional note: Finding this challenge began with getting lost, keeping my wits, navigating back and having a deep love and respect for the mountains. The day after this experience, I saw a guy in Volition Brewing with the 2020 Challenge shirt on. I needed to have it as soon as I saw Granite. Shirt dude barely acknowledged me and didn’t speak to me, even when I said I loved his shirt and wanted to ask about it. I searched and search online and finally found it. That’s when I discovered the challenge. I wanted to be able to wear it proudly, so off I went. And now, my husband is doing it with me. ????????