Red Mountain, 5890ft

West ridge (attempt)

September 21, 2002

I planned to spend this beautiful fall day climbing the east ridge of Lundin and if time allowed, hike up Red Mountain. But after a late start from Seattle, I decided that I would just hike up Red since I had never climbed it before. I left the crowded PCT trailhead just past the Alpental exit of I-90 and started hiking through the woods at a brisk pace. I didn't recognize the "unmaintained" short cut trail and ended up taking the longer PCT up and then back down in front of Kendal. I didn't miss the sign for the Red Mtn trail, and soon I was making numerous switchbacks on the trail up to Red Mountain Pond.

I spied a faint climbers trail that bypassed the switchbacks by following the ridge directly. This was a great way to go, and I was amazed at how much hiking was eliminated. Soon I was at the Pond and while hiking on the trail that cuts across the bottom flank of Red, I met up with two other hikers. We talked about the best way to get to the top of Red and I told them that last year when I climbed Lundin, I had seen a trail heading up towards Red from the saddle between Red and Lundin so that was where I was heading. They said that the Beckey book said that there were trails that branched off towards Red from the main trail before you reach the Pond. I told them that I had seen a faint climbers trail at the previous switchback that headed up the hillside. They decided to backtrack and take that route, so I wished them well and continued on. Below the saddle I decided to leave the trail and cut cross-country up the slope to gain the saddle faster. This would have been faster if I hadn't come across a patch of huckleberries. I grazed for some time, Yummy!

I reached the saddle and headed up the ridge towards the summit of Red. It was easy scrambling until I reached some slabs below a steep band of rocks. I had kept to the ridge earlier and I knew what was on the left side: a lot of air! So at this point I decided to leave the ridge and traverse more to the right in hopes of finding an easier gully upwards. After reaching a stand of trees, I tried traversing back towards the left to the ridge but this appeared to be even more exposed, so I continued my ascending traverse to the right. I spied a break in the rock band and after weighing my other options, I climbed up through it to gain the ridge again. I estimated the climbing to be about mid-fifth class, but there were very good holds so I continued up. After about 30 more vertical feet of climbing I gained the top of the ridge and finally got a view of the summit. Up to this point I was hoping that I would finally gain an easy slope that would lead to the top. This hope vanished as I saw that the ridge now narrowed to a steep, exposed traverse over to the main summit. I could see a gully that appeared to lead up to the ridge of the main summit, but it would have required a long exposed traverse to get to it. At this time I looked up and saw the two men I met earlier waving from the summit. They said it looked like they took the correct trail. I laughed and yelled back, "Definitely!"

If I had a partner with me, I would have continued but being by myself, I decided to bail. I also had a wedding to attend later that evening. It was a very exciting place to be, and I was a little nervous so I took off my pack, put on my jacket and ate some food and drank some water. I had a rope and a small rack with me, so I wasn't too worried. I down climbed about 15 feet to a small tree and felt some relief when I spied an old 9/16 sling tied around it! I added a 1" sling of my own and rapped off. One more rappel down through a steep, loose gully, and a rock band brought me to the top of the scree field that I had traversed under earlier on the trail. I scrambled down the steep slope, taking advantage of veggie belays wherever I could. On the way down I met a woman climbing up. I told her what I had found higher up and about the trail lower down. She said she didn't want to backtrack to the trail, so she would just continue up and take a closer look at the gully. I wished her luck and continued down. It was a comforting feeling being back on the trail. I haven't climbed a lot just by myself so this was a fun adventure for me.