On Sunday the 3rd I took a break from working on the cabin to go check out one of the local trails. Red Mountain sits right at the north end of Lake Cle Elum in central Washington and from a distance it appeared to be both snow free and to offer some great 360-degree views of the surrounding area. It was only 34 degrees when I got out of the car at the trailhead but the WTA description said that trail was more or less straight up to the saddle below the peak so I wasn’t too worried about being cold.
Turns out the WTA and I were both right, it started off steep and I was nice and toasty. Couldn’t say the same about the ground, however, the trail was what appeared to be frozen mud and it wasn’t long until I came to my first icy creek crossing. This is something I’m not used to seeing – I don’t normally get out much during the winter but now that I’ve got a place in the mountains I’m trying to make more of an effort. After breaking the coating of ice off of a couple rocks I was able to hop across to the other side. So far so good.
The further I went the more downed logs I had to cross and the less maintained the trail became. It became obvious that this trail doesn’t see a lot of love, although the lack of a proper parking lot might have something to do with it. In any case I soon found myself wandering through a tunnel of yellow vine maple at the base of a massive scree slope.
The next crossing was more challenging, eroded shores and thick sheets of ice on all the rocks and branches with a waterfall above and below – if I was going to cross I’d have to make a leap for it. I was far enough away from the car that I didn’t want to risk a fall into the icy water so I decided to take an off-trail detour over the scree.
Now we’re talking. This was my first trip with my new trail runners, a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3D Wide. They’d been solid so far on the trail and they performed just as well going over the rock, although they did slip out from under me on some steeper faces a half dozen times.
As I made my way up the scree slope I caught some nice views of the Cle Elum River Valley. Unfortunately these were the best views of the day. At a certain point the scree topped out and I was faced with an extremely dense thicket of vine maple which I didn’t feel like slogging through. So, I headed back over to the creek, hoping to find a doable crossing and get myself back on the trail. I did find a crossing, but on the far side I also found snowy ground and the faintest traces of a trail which I then proceeded to lose time and time again.
Eventually I came to a clearing and couldn’t locate the trail out of it so I decided to stop for lunch. The ground was covered in a layer of needle-like ice crystals with just a thin dusting of crusty snow. After lunch I re-evaluated: the trail up (assuming I could find it) looked like it must be decently steep and snowy and although I wasn’t in any danger of running out of daylight I had promised Person B that I’d be home early in the afternoon. So, I turned around and headed home. The End.
Route
Gaia GPS folder: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/LgOhyQX76I3rK2qUFZ5i2OgK
I only measured my descent to conserve battery so the scree detour is missing.
Gear
Since this was a last-minute day trip I didn’t bother putting together a LighterPack.
As mentioned earlier, this was my first time taking my Salomon XA Pro 3D Wides out for a spin outside the city. Compared to my Oboz they have a lot more breathable mesh and I was initially worried that my feet would get cold, especially since I was wearing my DryMax 1/4 crews and not a more substantial sock. These worries were unfounded and my feet felt great the entire time. I did notice some heel travel when I was going up particularly steep ground (something I don’t recall with the Oboz) but other than just feeling different I don’t think it had any practical significance. The goofy lacing system was super easy to adjust and being able to put the end bits in the “garage” was really nice for keeping the laces out of the way. The jury is still out on the traction, I felt like I had to be a little bit more careful (read: not completely careless) with foot placement than before. Overall a very positive experience.
I was also wearing my cotton-blend hiking ensemble feature a Wrangler Riata button-up shirt and Kuhl Kontra Air pants. Although they’re targeted towards warmer weather I wanted to see how they performed in the cold. After about a half hour into the hike my chest was a puddle and it became pretty obvious that the loose fit of the Riata combined with the cold temps and lack of breeze and sunlight meant that my sweat wasn’t exactly going anywhere. To compensate I ordered a Stoic Merino wool tank top to use as a wicking base layer. The wool should keep me feeling dry instead of clammy even when it’s wet so here’s hoping I get to test it out next weekend.
Finally, there’s the gear I didn’t bring: tools! Some sections of this trail were in pretty dire need of some grooming and since I live nearby I’ve decided to “adopt” this trail. I’m going to pick up a pair of lightweight loppers this weekend and I’ve already purchased a pair of pocket wedges to keep the kerf open while sawing. Good times ahead!
Photography
SmugMug gallery: https://turigrinos.smugmug.com/Adventures/2019/Red-Mountain/
Not much to report here, when you’re in the bottom of an east-west gully whose southern rim obscures the low winter sun you can’t really expect much. The frozen waterfalls were amazing but hard to capture and getting the color temperature right is a challenge. I brought my white balance card with me but given that you’re supposed to place it “in the same light as the subject” I’m finding that hard to do in the outdoors, especially when your subject is across an icy pond. Maybe it’s just for indoor and product photography after all?