Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Resources Conservation Area - 2024
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Originally, we intended to ascend Granite Mountain as a Father's Day trip with my son. However, a storm came through the night before and the peaks had a strong snow cover on them. Alternatively, we changed our objective to Mailbox Peak.
Mailbox Peak has the "original route", which is a direct, straight up route to the top, without any switchbacks. The "new route" has numerous switchbacks, less direct gain, but much longer. Going to the top, we pursued the original route. Many sections of the route are full on scrambling, with use of your hands to grab rocks and trees to balance yourself on the way up. It's quite a hike. After a few hours, we got to the top. Perched on top is a mailbox. It was still overcast due to the previous day's storm, but I felt that isolated island feel you get on a peak that is sitting alone in the clouds. It was nice. We stayed on the peak for about 30 minutes and then headed back down. I was a little nervous about falling or tripping on the steep descent and chose to take the new route down. It took so much longer but was a lot safer. Eventually, we reached the car and finished a satisfying Father's Day with my son.