Two weeks before this trip I fell while crossing a waterfall. I bruised by sternum and cracked a tiny bone in my wrist. 14 days later I felt like I could breathe without pain and with a brace my hand was 80% functional. Time to get back on the trail.
Red Mountain is a favorite because it's not that far out, but feels really remote. The first portion is in the forest through the Commonwealth Basin. The last 1,000 feet is steeply up the exposed, rocky slope. From the summit it's an unobstructed view north into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness or south to Mount Rainier.
Since I've been up the mountain many times before I figured it'd be a perfect place to test my recovery.
The trail through the basin starts flat for a good warm up before climbing a small hill. The upper basin is mostly flat along the creek. Breathing was a little labored, but it's hard to tell if that was due to soreness in my chest or two weeks of no hiking.
(There's some serious work being done on the trail above the spur to the PCT. Either someone wants to improve their own experience or it's a stealth project not ready for release by someone like WTA.)
I felt pretty good when we arrived at the turnoff for the summit. I swapped trekking poles for my helmet and we started up. Breathing wasn't an issue here because we weren't able to go fast enough to get short of breath. However, I use my hands a lot when scrambling like this and I definitely felt pain in my wrist when I put too much weight on it.
Big views at the summit as always. Poor Treen was still stuck at home recovering from a surgery to remove a lump, but her friend, Digger, was there striking poses in her honor. It's weird to hike without her so it'll be good when she's back.
The way down is always a little spicier than the way up. We're tired, the light is fading, and the trail disappeared. Poof. Gone. This is when I really miss Treen. She's not foolish enough to just go down. We were. That meant more stress on my hand, but some really impressive looking pictures on super steep rock.
Overall, it was a great test of my readiness if maybe a little too much too quickly. My wrist is still tender and I should definitely have worn the brace. My chest injury no longer affects my breathing, but I could certainly benefit from more time on the trail.
The moral: Remember to give yourself recovery time to let your body heal, then give it a go. But maybe choose a more appropriate destination.
