With a beautiful weather forecast I decided to do a loop hike up Red Mountain, then go “cross country” to Kendall Katwalk, up Kendall Peak and back via the “abandoned trail.”
While planning my trip, I read the entire “vandalized thread” which really scared me. Since I have already been a “trailhead victim” within the past year, I decided to park at the well travelled Snoqualmie West ski area south of I-90 and walked 5 minutes North to the actual trailhead.
The climb up to Red Mountain was uneventful, didn’t see any other hikers. The cairn at the top of Red was crawling with flying ants!
Flying Ants
They didn’t bite or anything but they were very annoying and shortened my stay at the top because they were getting into everything lunch/backpack/clothes etc.
I set off down and descended to about 4400 feet where I left the trail and went East on a cross country trip to Kendall Katwalk (see map).
From Kendall Katwalk, I descended about half a mile to the boot path leading to Kendall Peak.
I returned to to my car via the “abandoned trail” and I’m pleased to say my car was still in one piece!
Several years ago I made the traverse from Red to Kendall by just dropping off the ridge of Red and traversing higher up. The route was doable but had steep rocky sections.
The flying ants are mating. They meet up on the mountain tops. After mating the female (I am not sure about the male) will fly to an appropriate log or dead/dying tree to set up the colony. The wings will be shucked off quicker than you can take off snowshoes and the cycle begins again.
Several years ago I made the traverse from Red to Kendall by just dropping off the ridge of Red and traversing higher up. The route was doable but had steep rocky sections.
The flying ants are mating. They meet up on the mountain tops. After mating the female (I am not sure about the male) will fly to an appropriate log or dead/dying tree to set up the colony. The wings will be shucked off quicker than you can take off snowshoes and the cycle begins again.
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