Chiwawa Basin, Day 2: Red Mountain

On Sunday, August 20, Steve and I rose early to get a jump on our hike (and the bugs) up Red Mountain (above), a 7,646-foot summit of primarily historic interest on Phelps Ridge, which separates Chiwawa Basin from Phelps Creek and Spider Meadow.

Early miners called it "Red Hill" and pioneers such as "Red Mountain Ole" worked claims on its slopes in the late 19th century. Red Mountain stands out among the other peaks in the upper Chiwawa River area because of its striking appearance: the weathering of disseminated pyrite produces its bright red coloring.

The summit trail follows an old wagon road for a couple of miles. The plan was to veer off the trail near its junction with the Phelps Ridge trail and bushwhack our way to the top from the southwest. Because it's been such a late-developing summer, many mountain flowers were in bloom, including the western wood anemones (above), framed nicely by red berries on the mountain heather.

Unfortunately, we missed the junction, which had no sign or even a cairn to mark the way. In other words, we took a wrong turn at Albuquerque (as Bugs Bunny might be inclined to say) and continued on the Red Mountain road, passing an air vent (below) for the two-mile long Trinity tunnel buried deep beneath us in Phelps Ridge.

So instead of climbing our designated peak, we proceeded to the ridge between the east arm of Chiwawa Mountain and the jagged, precipitous cliffs on the north side of Red Mountain. Walking surfaces, which ranged from snow and ice to boulders and scree, were difficult at best. However, we were rewarded for our perseverance when we reached the ridgeline.

My, what a view! To the west, Glacier Peak (below) leered at us over Massie Ridge, lording over the lesser -- though not insignificant -- Fortress Mountain. To the southwest, Buck Mountain stood out as a lone sentinel, guarding the old mining community of Trinity.

To the east, the upper Entiat Mountains feature several 9,000-foot peaks, including Mt. Maude, Seven-Fingered Jack and Mt. Fernow. To the north, the views reach into upper Lake Chelan, with Bonanza Peak (bottom left, in the background) dominating the skyline.

After a brief rest and some pictures, Steve and I hastened our way down the mountain and back to camp because of waning daylight and dubious weather on the western horizon.