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Summary
Haydar scrambling the iced over and exposed ridge to the summit of Red Mountain (Oct. 12, 2003).
Krag Peak (Saturday): Climbed with Haydar from Crater Lake. We had crappy weather – snow and no visibility beyond 100 yds. Kept scrambling the ridge over humps not being sure if the last hump was the summit or not. Finally, arrived at a loose “class 3 headwall” – scrambled that and saw nothing higher thus concluded we were on the summit (consistent with map info.). I’m sure the summit offers excellent views of Red Mtn and inner Wallowas to the north – which we did not have. This “little” mountain does look a lot more impressive from the distance – we saw it from W. slopes of Red Mtn. the next day (see photos). Crater Lake to summit and back took us about 2.5 hrs. Shirley and Blondie sat it out in camp (wisely).
Red Mountain (Sunday): Crazy weather. Got pounded by snow and wind on Saturday. The evening did not look promising as we had practically no visibility and continued snow fall (were planning on just hiking out Sun. morning). Our luck however changed Sunday morning as we saw mostly clear skies and sunshine. Decided to give Red a shot afterall and as we scrambled up the snow-coated scree and reached the ridge the clouds returned and started dumping snow on us once again. We tagged the summit and quickly hiked down/back to the car. Shirley and I both enjoyed Haydar’s company – made the hike out less painful and the drive home enjoyable. 1am arrival in Portland and a crappy 7am wake up for work.
Photos
Krag Peak
Hiking up the Little Kettle Creek trail towards Crater Lake. Krag Peak is above our position on the left; Crater Lake is dead ahead. Photo taken about 1/2 hour before winter started (i.e. snow hit, Oct. 11, 2003).
Hiking up the Little Kettle Creek trail towards Crater Lake. Krag Peak is above our position on the left; Crater Lake is dead ahead. Photo taken about 1/2 hour before winter started (i.e. snow hit, Oct. 11, 2003).
Blondie scoping out Crater Lake and here comes winter...
Fall meet winter…this gorgeous photo was taken by our friend Haydar.
Haydar and Shirley trying to warm up after setting up camp at Crater Lake (Oct. 2003).
Haydar hiking the southeast ridge of Krag Peak (Oct. 2003).
Haydar on the summit of Krag Peak...another Oregon 9K footer...9048' to be exact (Oct. 2003).
Crater Lake (our camp) as seen from our hike down Krag Peak (Oct. 11, 2003).
First snows of the season and our camp at Crater Lake in the Wallowas. Photo credit goes to Haydar (Oct. 11, 2003).
Red Mountain
Red Mountain reflecting in Crater Lake on a clear early October morning (Oct. 12, 2003).
Truax Peak and Crater Lake on a clear Sunday morning (Oct. 12, 2003).
Haydar and Shirley on the approach to Red Mountain from Crater Lake. The route we chose to reach the ridge is at the center of the photo and follows the center tree-ridge (Oct. 12, 2003).
Krag Peak as seen from the west (west slopes of Red Mountain, Oct. 11, 2003).
Krag Peak as seen from the west (west slopes of Red Mountain, Oct. 11, 2003).
Shirley and Haydar low on the scree portion of the climb. Truax Peak is in the background (Oct. 12, 2003).
Looking towards Baker City from high on the ridge of Red Mountain (Oct. 12, 2003).
Shirley and Haydar scrambling up the loose and snow-coated scree on the way up to the ridge of Red Mountain (Oct. 12, 2003).
Haydar scrambling the iced over and exposed ridge to the summit of Red Mountain (Oct. 12, 2003).
Shirley, Haydar, and Blondie on the ridge of Red Mountain with the summit behind them and in the clouds (Oct. 12, 2003).
Early October snow on the Little Kettle Creek approach trail to Crater Lake. Granite Cliff Ridge (?) is in the background (Oct. 12, 2003).
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