Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble - Red Mountain (Commonwealth Basin)

Oct. 28, 2017. No significant snow encountered, beyond patches here and there. One student earned a third summit (Rock) for his graduation summit. Co-leader's name noted in the roster notes, although the trip was not originally set up as a co-led trip. We used the Commonwealth Basin TH and road to approach the peak on a beautiful sunny clear Fall day. Left parking lot at 8:00 am; returned by 3:15 pm, with a couple of extended breaks (~15 minutes each) and lunch on the summit of ~45 minutes or so. This pleasant peak might not ordinarily count for a scramble summit in summer/fall (snow-free) conditions, since it can be done as trail/way-trail all the way. The way-trail is steep, narrow, and loose in places, however, so an argument could be made either way for scramble credit. Since our student needed a third (Rock) summit to obtain graduation credit, we deliberately veered off the way-trail on the western face and ascended via the southwest spur, spending ample time on steep rock, mixed solid and loose, for good rock scrambling experience and informal loose rock instruction.

Stevie Russell

October 29, 2017