Red Mountain

[chucK]

Took a quick afternoon out on Red Mountain

sometime in September (2000). The Southern Face is a pretty fun scramble. Hike up the Commonwealth Basin Trail until one of the switchbacks is right next to rock. No bushwhacking should be involved. Scramble right and up, over some chossy rock. Head toward the bottom of the hanging basin on the South face with a big tree at the base. The rock gets better and better, and soon you're padding up smooth, frictiony red slabs. Follow the obvious path of good rock surrounded by a sea of choss. I got wigged out by some blank slabs and cut back to the ridge before the good rock ran out. Next time I'll take rock shoes.

Views are nice up there with a clear shot into the Chimney Rock area. Nicer view than The Tooth.

Descended the standard route, a well-marked talus trail, which gets you to the main trail. My time was around 3 hours, car to car. That involved some trail running.

chucK

[none_dup1]

See also my write-up on this climb done this past weekend (1/21/01). Go to the "Local Ice" thread, page 2, seventh entry.

Cheers,

John Sharp

[highclimb]

does anybody have any beta on the north face of Red?

[AJ]

Did the West Face on 2/25/01. There are enough hardpack snowshoe trails in Commonwealth Basin that we never needed snowshoes. We took a direct line up the west side in pretty good snow. Firm crust with softer snow below. (Mostly stable now, but beware with any coming storms.) A few rocks showing. Mostly easy plunge stepping on the way back down. Definitely a fun day and a great vantage for views north and east.