W6/NS-062 Red Lake Peak

Day two of my Sierra trip I climbed this peak and nearby Stevens Peak. While camping at the Jeff Davis trailhead, my tent nearly got blown over a few times, and so I didn't sleep well. Consequently, I was up early, and got to the trailhead at Carson Pass early. Both lots at the pass require a $5 fee, which I paid then set off north on the PCT.

The trail was sheltered for the first mile or so.

It was cool and windy, so I hiked at a brisk pace to stay warm. I too the PCT to the top of the small pass, where there is a small lake. Here I turned off the trail and went cross country up to the summit. I was briefly concerned because a false summit was surrounded by cliffs, but I quickly realized that it was a false summit.

Getting closer to the summit. 

At the summit area I walked around a bit to find a good area to set up in. Eventually I found a comfortable seat on the East side of the peak, and set up my end-fed. I'm sure that the very steep slope in that direction helped propagation to the rest of the US.

It was a beautiful day at 10,000 feet.

I quickly got a large pileup on 30, and had some fun working my way through it. I then went up to 20 and 40, and got a few contacts on each. I think a lot of people worked me on 30, so the counts were less on the other bands. Once I was done I packed up my HF gear and walked around to the other side of the peak so I could have better LOS to the central valley and Tahoe areas. I then worked one person on 2 and 440 each.

The ridge over to Stevens Peak.

My next destination was Stevens peak, about 1.5 miles away along a scenic ridge. I found the use trail that headed down the mountain to the north, and followed it. It did a good job going around the steep sections, and the trail petered out once it got to the flat sections.

Looking down at Crater Lake, from the ridge.

Trailhead: Meiss Sno-Park, Carson Pass.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the PCT north to the small col. Turn right, and follow the ridge up to the summit.
Red Tape: None.