Red Top Mt 7.25.09

I had tried to ski this peak this winter from the Mineral Springs Campground and had to turn around just passed the Red Top Campground. I wasn't bothered by not making the summit because I knew it would give a good excuse the bring the family back. After missing my family for the last two weeks while they were out of town, I surely didn't want to forgo another day tromping up some obscure peak by myself. I thought with the nice weather it was a perfect day to have a family picnic. After a few stops we were off. Both the kids seemed giddy with the possibilities of bagging another peak. I hope their exuberance for their father's passion continues. We made good time to the Mineral Springs turnoff and made our way up the good road. There is some active logging so caution should observed. Soon we were parked near a nice shady picnic bench to have a nice lunch. After lunch we packed up the car and started the short walk to the Red Mt. Lookout Trail. The trail is marked as .5 miles but I am quite sure it is only half that. The trail is somewhat steep in spots and is loose especially for little feet. The lookout was manned and Don was more than happy to show the wife and oldest around. I stayed below with the little on stowed safely in her backpack. There are some substantial drops near the summit it was a little tense for me to have the kids untethered. After some quick pictures we made our way back to the car. The second plan for the day was to take a drive to Bentrim Hill to knock another peak off my list. After driving on a rapidly degrading road that I "hoped" was the right road I decided that I would save this hill for next year's picnic and use the standard approach.




.5 miles 400ft of climb 30 min car to car.