Ruby Mountain

Ruby Mountain is a centrally located and prominent peak in the heart of the North Cascades with great views across the range. The summit is accessible via a ~5000’ snow climb off of highway 20 in the winter months. This peak had been on our hit list for a while this season so as soon as the weather cleared up, Tim and I planned a trip to do some sunrise photography from the summit.

Planning the start time for a sunrise hike is always tricky, especially in the winter. If you overestimate your speed then you will miss the sunrise. If you underestimate your speed, then you will spend some chilly hours at your destination waiting and freezing your ass off without the sun or the warmth from uphill movement. Missing the sunrise is probably worse, so I tend to err towards the latter.

Indeed for this trip we were going way faster than estimated, largely because our trail breaking and navigation duties were obviated by the hero bootpack stomped out by the hordes of skiers and snowshoers that had come in weeks past. We realized this halfway up the mountain, and wanting to minimize the freezing duration at the summit, we deliberately slowed our pace to a crawl. This worked out pretty well and we topped out some 30 minutes before sunrise, giving us good time to set up our tripods and start taking photos.

Definitely a productive trip for photography, although I wish sky was a bit more interesting. That’s a reason to go back for round two sometime, I guess!