John and I opted for the trail in both directions, leaving the total bushwhack option for perhaps another time. We started at the same spot that Travis did (east side of the lake next to the bathroom) and circled around to trail #261. It was a lovely cool morning and we pushed the uphill trekking pace a bit.
Once past the split toward the overlook, we followed cairns and a trail a short way across the valley. The cairns split at one point and we took the left/uphill option. That worked well, as the cairns continued to lead us in a good direction. John did a great job route finding and I clambered up behind him. Some places were steep and scrambly but nothing unreasonable.
Someone has done some nice work clearing out and marking a path up the first steep drainage, so we made note of that spot when we topped out on the upper bench. The cairns continued up toward the summit but took us a bit further around to the right than necessary. We cut back left and followed an excellent ramp toward the top, climbing around boulders to reach the summit.
We found the summit marker and ammo box, along with great views in every direction. Beautiful spot! Looking at Granite from a distance, I was skeptical I could make it up there, but the route is totally doable.
Our initial descent was a more straightforward path, then we made a couple zigzags as we tried to find the same good passage through the vegetation (and missed here and there). As Travis said, there are many different ways to go and most will work out eventually! I can recommend our uphill route except with a slightly more direct climb just at the top.
Back on trail, we took off the leg coverings and had a solid downhill run back to the lake. Super fun morning, thank you for setting up this route Travis!