Red Ridge II

Red Ridge II – January 27, 2007

Mountain height: 2636 m (we came up 100 vertical metres short of the summit)
Elevation gain: 800 m
Roundtrip time: 4 hours

Hiking with Gaia.

With a starting time of 2:30 pm and a significant amount of deep, sugary snow, Gaia and I didn’t expect to reach the summit of Red Ridge, but an attempt was certainly warranted. Initially, the weather conditions were fairly gloomy. We took snowshoes, however the snow was not consolidated enough to support them (and our own body weight) and so we followed a trail on the south (wrong) side of the creek, carrying the snowshoes. When it became necessary, we had to descend a rather steep snow slope to cross the creek. Again, the powdery snow provided no stability and we more “tumbled” down the slope than “hiked” down it.

Once on the right side of the creek a long and strenuous, but fun-filled slog through knee-deep snow to the tree line followed. At this point the weather started to improve and views towards Mount Nestor and Old Goat Mountain were terrific. Upon finally reaching the ridge, we continued for a short distance towards the summit, however, the lateness of the day (5 pm) prompted us to stop before reaching the top. Nevertheless, the views and scenery from our highpoint were thoroughly enjoyable, especially as the sun set, lighting the clouds in glorious shades of orange and yellow.

After a more than welcome cup of tea at our highpoint, courtesy of Gaia, we started a very rapid decent. Thankfully, we were out of the somewhat treacherous boulder field and onto the easier snow slopes before the lack of daylight became an issue. In fact, we managed to make it back to the car without getting out the headlamps. Another unexpectedly terrific trip – perhaps it was the company?