Bo Beck joined DB and I for a climb of Red Butte, the exciting and brilliant red thumb-like spire just outside the park boundary on the Kolob Terrace.
With a short approach and plenty of snow down low to prove a pain, we headed up in fine shape and in shining moods.
With spot-on route-finding, a strong scrambler could get within 100 feet of the summit. But in a spot down lower, while Bo went up a particular ramp that proved quite easy, DB and I went up a paralleling chute that required an 80-ft scrambling pitch (with several 5.7/8ish moves.) Even the lower-mid mountain had a few spots with 4th/easy 5th class moves (usually only 1-2 moves at a time), so we weren't entirely surprised.
Once you finally get within 100 feet of the top, there's a short 5th class pitch followed by a very short 5th class pitch. All pretty easy climbing. We placed a total of 3 pieces on the entire climb.
The summit views were terrific, though it was getting chilly as a storm rolled in. We signed the register and headed down.
Red Butte
