June 1, 2002

My friend Scotty and I spent the night at the Red Lake Trailhead, and we hit the trail at 6:15 am for the long slog up the steep, dusty, sandy trail to Red Lake. This section was unpleasant, and it would really be unpleasant on a hot day. The trailhead was at approximately 6,500'. From Red Lake, we headed north to the northeast ridge, gained the Split crest, and proceeded up the North Slope to the summit. Everything after Red Lake was good, a little bit of sub-standard talus to sidehill due to rotten snow, but overall fun. We summited in 5:35, not particularly fast, but passable. We signed in and enjoyed the limited view that was available. The tops of all of the nearby peaks were shrouded in clouds, and the Palisades were hidden. It was perfectly calm on the summit, but just a few feet above our heads, wisps of cloud were racing by. We took the obligatory photos and headed down. A short while into the descent, we were hit with a pretty good snow flurry, but it passed, and the 7,550' descent was uneventful from there. The descent took 4:45. The total mileage was between 14 and 16 miles roundtrip. This was Scotty's first 14er ever, and my first of the season, with many more to come. For Scotty's take on this peak, click here.