Red Mtn Hole November, 2007

Route Information

Red Mountain just north of Snoqualmie Pass is really red. This must have been a beacon to mineral prospectors back in the day, but the mountain now is curiously void of documented mining claims. Surely there must be a few holes around the mountain we thought, back when we explored the nearby Commonweath Mines a few years ago.

Closeup of an unknown adit on the flanks of Red Mtn

The answer came back this last summer, when Kent was hiking the PCT north from Snoqualmie, and spotted a hole down on the flanks of Red Mountain. We talked about getting up there all summer, but nothing materialized until early in November of all times.

We had researched the area a little, and found trip reports on a local hiking site that indicated at least one hiker had traversed the slopes of Red Mountain towards the Kendall Katwalk (and PCT), apparently passing quite close to the unknown mine. Some quick emails confirmed the details of the route. With a forecast looking like sun for the weekend, on the appointed day we rolled up I-90 to Snoquamie Pass.

On the foggy slopes of Red Mountain not far from leaving the trail

Except that Jeff Renner lied to us again. Instead of sun and clear skies that morning, we drove into fog and misty rain. Not a good omen for a day of off-trail bush-whacking to find a mine. We grumbled as we rolled into the PCT parking lot just north of the Pass. Donning our boots and rain gear, we started off with low expectations.

It turned out to be not too bad. The old Commonwealth Basin trail was pretty brush free, and the temps were warm enough for a light layer. We leisurely hiked up into Commonwealth Basin, enjoying the peaceful day, nice trail, and the many small creeks that the trail passes by on the way up the side of Red Mountain. At the switchbacks around 4400', we started looking for a good bail-out point off the trail - and seeing a small rock cairn decided it was time to start off-trail.

Surveying the route ahead, trying to keep along the easy terrain

We were dreading the bush-whacking, but to our delight there were really no bushes to whack. The traverse route across the flanks of Red Mountain were generally above treeline, and relatively brush-free. We crossed a talus slope, went down a ways and over to a gully, over a few more gullies and started up on a slightly rising traverse, always keeping to the easiest terrain. Every so often the drizzle would let up and the clouds would get bright.

After a while Kent stated that he thought the hole should be just beyond the next tree-line. Struck with Mine Fever, he took off up the slope. A few minutes later a shout was heard, and the skies parted with a dull gleam of sunlight. We had walked right to the unknown mine, and I trudged up the side of the small mine dump below the adit, elevation 4750'.

The mine was blasted into solid granite and seemed pretty safe

Kent made a quick recon of the tunnel, in case there were gold bars to pick up. It seemed a lot deeper than the "10 foot hole" that we expected to find. Outside the adit was a comfortable grassy area, and we sat down and constructed some chairs and ate some lunch, being around noon and just under 3 hours travel time.

The mine dump material descends down the hillside towards the bottom of the small valley. This can be seen pretty clearly from the PCT, and the PCT can be faintly seen looking up from the adit (zoomed shot).

Standing outside the adit, wishing for the sun to shine

The mine is undocumented, and we didn't know anything about it other than the dump size indicated a small prospect hole. We started in the tunnel, which was blasted into solid looking granite and quite dry inside. After a while it jogged left, and then quickly right again to a dead end. We stepped off the depth and found it to be about 75' of workings.

It's interesting finding an "unknown" mine. We saw no signs of mineralization anywhere in the tunnel, and no artifacts were noticed at the site. It looked to be a quick prospect venture, with work being done and then the miners moving on afterwards somewhere else. Maybe to some other hole on Red Mountain?

We retraced our steps back across the mountainside, and made it back to the trail pretty quickly. The rest of the trail back down through the basin was peaceful, and at one spot we could look back up and see exactly where we had been. A great end-of-season trip.

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