Different hiking routes up Granite Dome

[Sillyman56]

I’m planning on getting up to Granite Dome in Emigrant Wilderness out of Kennedy Meadows. I want to make it a loop using the summit creek trail and relief valley trail. From topo maps it appears that both the east and west sides of Granite Dome have a reasonable grade to hike up. The eastern slope looks a bit easier and seems to be more popular from what I’ve seen online. I wanted to know if any folks have gone up the western slope and how that is. Ideally I want to go up one side and down the other as part of my loop. I’m not looking for anything technical or difficult scrambling. I’ve been up around Iceland Lake before but never on Granite Dome.

[c9h13no3]

Yeah, the whole granite dome area is easy to keep at class 2 if you poke around a bit. All the terrain between Black Hawk Mountain and Upper Relief Valley is pretty easy granite slabs. I have a GPS track or two, but really the fun is just choosing your own adventure.

Sounds like a good trip. I thought the tarn between Iceland & Ridge probably had the best camping, but honestly it's not like you can go wrong up there.

That horse trench sucks for the first few miles though :/

[levi]

Seconding c9h13no3, you'll have no issues going up or down the western slope, cl1/2 the whole way from the trail that goes to Salt Lick Meadow. The eastern slope of Granite Dome is milder, but getting up to it from Summit Creek is steeper than the western approach. Not to discourage you in any way, that area is super fun to explore and with a little routefinding, all Class 2. Enjoy!