On Red Mountain with view of Rainier

“Oh, watch out…he’s a Mountain Goat!” That’s what everyone says about our Northwest pal, J. His wife warned us the whole time, “You’re crazy if you try to keep up with him.”. As if we could.

They both kicked my butt and if I hadn’t started crying on the way down would have likely been painting each other’s toe nails and eating bon-bons at the trailhead waiting for my pokey self to come off the mountain.

Aptly named, Red Mountain is hard to miss. There’s a bit of a scramble track to get to the top. The actual trail goes just to the left of it and ends in a narrow saddle looking North down to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie and across the Apline Wildernes and South toward Rainier. It’s an amazing place.

The trail was a bit tricky in the flats of Commonwealth Basin due to snow in the trees, and most folks don’t bother with this dead-end spur but instead take the turn and head up to the Kendall Katwalk.