The road to the TH of Red Mountain was mostly covered with snow, some middle parts were melted out.
We pulled off the road and parked on the snow.
With the record low snow this year, I was hoping to drive all the way to TH.
This is a photo of the TH, which O.K. by the sign.
Started walking the road ~9:45am. The first minute or two was on trail, but soon the trail disappeared into the snow. Snow was soft and shallow in the beginning. Not a lot of snow, but enough that we were punching holes. Put on snowshoes. From time to time we could see a faint trail where the snow had melted on steeper slopes. The slope gets fairly steep, but not terrible. There's some road zigzaging on this slope, which we crossed a couple of time, and there, it was flat and all snow. Minor bushwhacking involved.
Once we emerged from most trees, the view was pretty good (to east).
Eventually, we followed a ridge. At about 5400', no more trees, somewhat steep. We put on crampons.
I haven't used crampons for years. Had to adjust to fit my current boots.
It gave me a chance to eat a bit of my sandwich, otherwise, I was lagging behind so much that I had no time to stop and refuel.
Almost 1pm already.
O.K. doesn't seem to need to eat.
We also got our ice-axe out, and put on our jackets. A bit chilly when wind blew.
Finally we got on a false summit. Great view here over to the west (Alpine Lakes).
Rainier is to the south shrouded in clouds.
From here, need to drop down on to the ledge that connects these peak to get to the proper Red Mountain.
You can see O.K. in this photo.
A bit narrow here, but not bad, except for one small rock-pile that I had to use hands.
Finally, we reached our objective. It doesn't seem any higher than the false summit.
In summer, it's easy to scramble to other peaks along this ledge.
There's a trail, once the snow is gone.
Snapped a couple of photos, especially photos of O.K. on summit (she posts them on Facebook).
Because we had an event to go this evening, we turned around right away. The event promised dinner, so both of us were motivated to go back not too late. I glissade a little bit to catch up with O.K., and gave me a chance to finish my sandwich. My left leg was starting to cramp.
Switched to snowshoes at some point. I'm testing a newly acquired Altas Helium snowshoes. I like the fitting: easy to secure, and fit well. But getting on and off is slow, as I have to unbuckle all 3 bindings, even though each one is easy. O.K. was taking on/off her snowshoes constantly. I, after one switch, gave up, and plowed through the alder branches and down logs on snowshoes. Even with snowshoes, I managed to step through into some holes and fell twice. Miraculously, no scratches. Could have easily fallen on a pointy tree limb.
Dropped back on the road a bit south of the TH, but still north of the creek. The road was now melted more. I didn't put on spikes walking out. Saw a truck and a snowmobile as we walked back to the car. Now, a problem: the car had sunk into now melting snow, and it couldn't move. I used snowshoes to dig out snows behind each wheel. Then, O.K. would drive on reverse, and I would push. Did this a couple of rounds, and finally the back wheels got on pavement. That took ~20 mintes. Drove out ~4:45pm.
We filled the gas at Cle Elum Safeway, before driving back home. Dropped our stuff, and I picked up my badge and my Midi-box. We rushed to ArtLove Salon. Arrived ~7pm, still had most food left. Total ~6.8 miles, 3470' EG. I get to use all gear: spikes, snowshoes, crampons, ice axe, and helmet. Not all necessary, but definitely snowshoes.
