Trip report
Jun 3, 2020 — Red Mountain is a cinder cone with an interesting eroded east face. A popular trail leads to this eroded aea, where hoodoos form gorgeous shapes. The trail leads to a very shallow slot canyon with a small chamber, and most people turn back here.
I wasn't sure of the best route, but a text to my local friend Matt told me heading up the "middle" ridge of Red Mountain would add some scrambly bits to the ascent, while the south ridge would be a good descent route on easy terrain. So, from the base of the eroded feature, I headed south on what appeared to be a fairly well-traveled social trail up the dark-colored slope. This slope got steeper and eventually a little unpleasant as I ascended to the middle ridge, but the views toward the eroded Red Mountain were definitely getting better higher up. I followed the middle ridge west, passing some interesting stubby hoodoos and encountered some steep Class 2+ to get out of the steep and eroded territory and onto dirt. A pleasant dirt slope continued to the summit.
For the descent from Red Mountian, I headed down the wider southern ridge. It was also quite steep and wouldn't have been particularly fun to ascend, so I was happy I went up the middle ridge. The trees were far enough apart that I can't call this a bushwhack, though I did have to do some zig-zagging farther down to pick the path of least resistance.