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TrailPair
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TrailPair
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 9:17 am 
K and I had the wisdom to descend the ascent route.....but the adventure route suuuure looks like it was fun. agree.gif Looking forward to the rest of the story eek.gif

This thing called work is interfering with my play
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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!



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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!
PostTue Mar 27, 2007 9:24 am 
Cant wait for the rest of the story...great pictures, digging those cornices up.gif ..looks like it was a good adventure for all biggrin.gif

"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
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TrailPair
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 12:04 pm 
Since we were in the "wisdom" group, we are on pins and needles waiting to hear about the adventure! Thanks for the great trip, Matt. And Erin is our idol. Here are a few more shots.
Matt
Matt
Matt and Bob just below the summit
Matt and Bob just below the summit
Bob
Bob
Jim K
Jim K
Silly Traveler and Bob
Silly Traveler and Bob
Group on the southern summit
Group on the southern summit

This thing called work is interfering with my play
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Yet
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 12:48 pm 
TrailPair, your "Group on the southern summit" photo has a very magical quality to it.

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silly_traveler
~ roaming ~



Joined: 04 Jun 2006
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 1:19 pm 
TrailPair wrote:
Since we were in the "wisdom" group, we are on pins and needles waiting to hear about the adventure! Thanks for the great trip, Matt. And Erin is our idol.
ditto.gif

♫ You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. And you're the one who will decide where you'll go. Oh the places you'll go. - Dr. Seuss
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TrailPair
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 3:26 pm 
Yet, Just lucky enought to be in the right place at the right time. As I was shooting, a small wind came up sending a spindrift floating over the edge. It sort of "softened" the scene. cool.gif

This thing called work is interfering with my play
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wildernessed
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 4:36 pm 
up.gif up.gif Gorgeous wintry terrain, love the ridge shots !

Living in the Anthropocene
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captain jack
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 4:45 pm 
You guys broke the Silly Traveller. nono.gif She's a gimp now. frown.gif

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GeoTom
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 5:50 pm 
Quote:
Tell me more, tell me more...
From one of the group of wisdom: we retraced our steps back to the car. Nothing too exciting. Jasper saw his first snowmobiles, but surprisingly did not bark at them or try to chase them (before anyone asks, he was leashed then). I was tempted to join the group of adventure, but since I had the dog with me, decided it was more prudent to go back the way we came up. Now Matt, tell us more about the group of adventure. hmmm.gif

Knows literally nothing
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Sabahsboy
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 6:57 pm 
Thank you for the photo essay of this splendid adventure! Some terrific photos herein. Like the close up portraits of the tree tops with glazed snow...delicious!

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Mesahchie Mark
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Joined: 10 May 2005
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PostTue Mar 27, 2007 9:35 pm 
Good times on Red, and good folks to hang with. Here are some pics (Adventure pics later):
Startin' Out
Startin' Out
At the beginning of the journey...
Breakin' Out
Breakin' Out
Getting near the top...
The Approach
The Approach
Closer...
Summit Ridge
Summit Ridge
Made it!
GeoTom & Jasper
GeoTom & Jasper
GeoTom and Jasper...

Cheers, Mesahchie Mark
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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PostWed Mar 28, 2007 12:03 am 
Red Mountain Part 2: The Adventure
"Red Mountain Part 2: The Adventure" Where the story left off previously, the Red Mountain party of twelve had decided to depart the summit by two different routes. The choices were either to descend via the approach route, or else to run the ridge southward to Point 5722 and then descend. Some chose wisdom, some chose adventure….
The Ridge of Adventure, with the Icy Rock of Foreshadowing
The Ridge of Adventure, with the Icy Rock of Foreshadowing
(BTW, I think “The Ridge of Adventure, with the Icy Rock of Foreshadowing” is a superb caption. Thanks to GeoTom for originating the first part of the caption.) Our first challenge was getting off the south summit. The sides were too steep, so we climbed down the rocky step on the crest, carefully wedging feet into corners and brushing snow off handholds on the rocks. Then we wove our way around the cornices to the next high snowy point, hoping it would be snow rather than rock on the far side. It wasn’t.
Rock step down to start the adventure
Rock step down to start the adventure
Looking up the cornices to the next high point
Looking up the cornices to the next high point
Party coming across from the rock step
Party coming across from the rock step
There was a rock cliff on the far side. Our only way forward was to scramble down the rocks on the west side into the basin a couple hundred feet below. But the jumble of snowy rocks didn’t guarantee any way through to the gentler basin. Would it go? Zigzagging our way down a mix of rimed rocks and hard crusted snow, we made it through. The others were very good spirited about not tossing me over the edge for getting them into this.
Rimed tree & rocks on the crest
Rimed tree & rocks on the crest
Climbing down off the crest.
Climbing down off the crest.
Erin crossing steep icy section wearing crampons strapped over stuff sacks wrapped around tennis shoes.
Erin crossing steep icy section wearing crampons strapped over stuff sacks wrapped around tennis shoes.
Final climb through tree branches down into the snowier basin.
Final climb through tree branches down into the snowier basin.
Down in the basin, we traversed across the top of the tracks that the whining snowmobiles had made. They were high-marking up the slope while we were climbing down from the crest. Probably both groups thought the others were engaged in utterly senseless behavior. On the far side of the basin, we followed easier terrain uphill in the woods and then ran another wildly corniced ridge to Point 5722.
Crossing the basin below the rock bands
Crossing the basin below the rock bands
Finally on easier terrain on the ridge
Finally on easier terrain on the ridge
Wild cornices on the ridge
Wild cornices on the ridge
Looking back at the adventure; further rock is the south summit; back side of nearer rock is the crux.
Looking back at the adventure; further rock is the south summit; back side of nearer rock is the crux.
From Point 5722, we had a good view back along our route. The crux point was a bigger rock outcrop than we had realized from above. Meanwhile, the clouds had opened further, and we had partial views of many of the surrounding peaks. We could see occaisional bits of the Snoqualmie crest to the north, Jolly out east, the flanks of the Stuart Range, and the Cle Elum River far below. I forgot to take any pictures of the valley, because I was distracted by snowy trees and cornices.
whole route
whole route
Ridge of Adventure, with Cathedral Rock at right
Ridge of Adventure, with Cathedral Rock at right
Group on Point 5722
Group on Point 5722
I walked past the high point and considered the next ridge stretching out to Point 5703. It formed an attractive long ramp curving upward, edged with dozens of more cornices. Wouldn’t it have been even more entertaining to run that ridge as well and descend the next basin, counting more cornices and finding more adventures along the way?
More cornices, looking ahead toward Point 5703
More cornices, looking ahead toward Point 5703
Point 5703
Point 5703
I spent our summit break wandered around taking more pictures of snowy trees. Meanwhile the others enjoyed a meal and I ran out of time, but I figured I could draw sustenance from the beauty of the scenery. Or whatever.
Snowy Tree & Moon
Snowy Tree & Moon
Trees & Snow, Sky & Clouds 1
Trees & Snow, Sky & Clouds 1
Trees & Snow, Sky & Clouds 2
Trees & Snow, Sky & Clouds 2
Trees & Snow, Sky & Clouds 3
Trees & Snow, Sky & Clouds 3
To exit, we dropped southeast into the basin, following the snow slopes downward till we neared the creek. Where the snow was a little steeper, we glissaded one section. Then we followed the creek eastward to the road, first on the north side through open forest, then on the south side through clearcuts. The descent went quickly, jogging and sliding downhill on our snowshoes. Erin made the whole descent without snowshoes, floating along on top of the snow without sinking in. Finally I saw the explanation for her speed. She’s one of those elves out of Lord of the Rings who never tire and can run over the top of the snow.
Dropping into the basin
Dropping into the basin
Glissade further down into the basin
Glissade further down into the basin
We made it back to the cars at 4:30, where the others had arrived at 3:00 and decided to wait for us. The round trip with the adventure option was about 8 miles, 4100 gain, 8 hours. Some additional route info: The ascent route up the ridge is well protected from avalanche danger. The traverse to Point 5722 might have been simpler if we had dropped down the ascent route a couple hundred feet, then traversed through the basin east of the ridge and back up to the crest beyond the rocky parts. However, both this basin and the further basin through which we returned have large open slopes and would not be advisable unless avalanche conditions are low. Ultimately, I think the extra adventure rounded out a fine day, providing even more time spent up high, enjoying a fascinating mix of weather, snow, and terrain. I don’t think if I’ve ever seen so many distinct cornices on a single peak before. Thank you to ErinB, Aussie, MM & cartman for your good spirits throughout the questionable parts of the adventure. And thank you to everyone for a great trip. I enjoyed meeting all of you.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Yet
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PostWed Mar 28, 2007 9:05 am 
Beautiful, Mark & Matt. And well worth the wait. Mark's glissading photo looks like too much fun! I hate to see this TR end! It's like crack. (Not that I would know.) Is there a Part 3?

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Mesahchie Mark
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Mesahchie Mark
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PostWed Mar 28, 2007 11:18 am 
Wow, Matt - that looks like a week's worth of pics! Very cool. I'm glad I chose adventure. It was great to meet new folks (EF, Trail Pair, GeoTom and S_T), and get re-acquainted with Erin and Aussie. Here are my adventure pics, some of which look very similar to Matt's huh.gif )...
Scramble Logjam
Scramble Logjam
Adventure!
Adventure!
Tracks on the Slope
Tracks on the Slope
On The Other Side
On The Other Side
Ridge Of Denial
Ridge Of Denial

Cheers, Mesahchie Mark
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Type E
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PostWed Mar 28, 2007 11:45 am 
As long as we`are on the subject,can someone please explain the tennis shoe stuff sack crampon combo?

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