Red Cone - what a challenge!!!
We have gotten a bit used to arriving at a trail and finding that it has been closed due to snow, but it is basically August! Could we really have it happen again?!?!? Yup. We headed out to the Red Cone Area, an off-roader's heaven, and right in the middle of it is an old mining site that quite literally scarred the wilderness but left some unique things in it place.
Red Cone Mountain is very appropriately named: the red and orange rust color left after the mining finished created a perfect cone shaped mountain for us to conquer!
We first tried it from the Webster's Pass trail side, climbing up a a narrow path clinging to the side of the rock face. That's where we met the last remaining "bit" of snow on the trail: a snow drift only about 10 feet wide but about 25 feet deep blocked out path! We could SEE the other trail that joined our just beyond our reach!!!!
So what to do? Go back down and try it from the other side...the difficult side!
On the Red Cone trail we saw some amazing views as we climbed ever upward. We finally peaked at 12,801 feet and felt we had finished an amazing accomplishment. Well, then we realized what the true challenge really was. The peak we crawled down is so steep that they have made it a one-way path. Well, as I mentioned before, the a-joining path was blocked by snow, so we HAD to go back up the trail. All I can say is that it was a nail-biter. Kevin was calm only to later admit that he was quite nervous but knew that if he showed it, that I would freak out. It was about a 70 degree climb up loose and slippery rock, but whew, we made it!! On the left picture above, the peak we climbed is the red one just beyond the path! That's a truck way up there!)
See that tiny dot along the edge? That's a RZR 4. I know its not us...but we did it next!
The trail also offered some unique things: a cave that had been blasted out to access a fresh spring. The entrance was so coated in spongy moss that when pressed, it would squirt out droplets of water.
Number "10" Hill
We found a fantastic trail that would connect us to a whole mountain of more trials, but only one this stood in our way: Number 10 Hill. It was, uh, pretty extreme. Huge boulders scattered down a stretch of hillside about 300 feet long switchbacking down to the valley. We stayed up and the top and chatted with several groups as they arrived and discussed whether or not to attempt it. We really could have made it with some careful wheel placement, but the challenge would be coming back up. The trail that lead back to our campsite was closed for construction, so the only option was 10 hill or back the way we came. We enjoyed the scenery going back! Once again, the photos don't show the drop offs and the elevation loss. This is a pretty steep hill and the rocks create about 12-24 inches drops.)
Camp-Life
Jadeyn once again found imaginative ways to entertain himself. There were a ton of tiny BBs scattered all over our campsite from who knows who. Jadeyn collected them all and stuffed the "Beetles" into all sorts of places, tree stumps, boulders, the lid of the propane tank, etc!
Alpine Sunflowers and Little Pink Elephant Head Flowers
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