 |
| Sunrise on Mount Adams |
Mount Adams is the second highest volcano in
Washington, standing at 12,276 feet. I previously climbed Adams back in 2009 on
a trip with my Dad in which we also climbed neighboring Mount St. Helens; and
Mount Bachelor and the South Sister in Oregon. I was invited on a trip up Mount
Rainier that is planned for later in the week, so I thought it would be a good
idea to do a warm-up climb on Adams. The crew heading up the mountain was my
Dad, Mark and my friend Loren (LT) and Cédric which is LT’s exchange student
from France.
We chose to climb the standard
South Climb Trail that begins at Cold Springs Campground. This climb requires
the Cascades Volcano Pass that costs $15 and can be picked up at a self-serve
station at the Mount Adams Ranger Station in Trout Lake, Washington. I flew
into the Portland International Airport and had my Dad pick me up there. To get
to Trout Lake from Portland drive east on I-84 taking exit 64 in Hood River.
Use the Hood River Bridge to cross the Columbia River, there is a toll of $1
for using the bridge each way. Follow WA-141 for the next 24 miles into Trout
Lake. The ranger station is along WA-141 on the west side of the town. Pick up
your permit and start making your way up to the TH. To get to the TH, drive
back into town turning north on Mount Adams Road. After about 5 miles take a
slight left onto NF-8040, this road will turn into NF-500 another 5 miles down
the road, follow this to the right for an additional 3 miles to the TH/CG. This
area is chaotic and parking sucks. Try to find a spot; we arrived about 11pm so
there were a few available spots, but if you came in the morning I doubt you
would have luck finding a spot especially on the weekend. Expect about a 45
minute drive from Trout Lake to the TH.
 |
| Climbing the Snowfield to Lunch Counter |
We arrived at the TH around
11pm. Instead of digging out tents we just slept in the back of the truck. We
didn’t crash before having a few social beers and taking in the meteor shower
that was in full effect. Throughout the night/early morning there was moderate
activity with people arriving and heading up the trail. Since we were doing
this as an overnighter staying at Lunch Counter, we weren’t in a hurry to get
up the trail too quickly on Saturday morning. Lunch Counter is the name of the
flat feature where most people camp and it represents the halfway point, to get
there it is a 4.5 mile climb of about 3,800 vertical feet. After getting our
gear together in the morning we finally hit the trail at about 9am.
This was my first time
backpacking in almost two years, so my pack was feeling quite heavy. I guess if
I left the beer in the truck that would have shaved some weight off, but what
fun would that be? I considered doing this climb as a day trip in order to lessen
the load on my back, but in the end we decided this would be a good chance to
test out the gear we would be using on Rainier later in the week. The trail
starts in an old wildfire burn-out area from the 2012 Cascade Creek Fire. The
trail is fairly wide, and very dusty. After gaining the initial 1,000 feet you
finally will be out of the burn zone and will see Mount Hood to the southwest.
 |
| Climb from Camp to Pikers Peak |
Crossing Morrison Creek was the
last chance to fill water bottles from a flowing source until reaching Lunch
Counter. After the creek the trail splits into several paths that others have
created. Follow the large cairns with the poles and you will stay on route.
There is a traverse leading to the main ridge that you will be ascending for
the remainder of the day. Once on the ridge you are reminded that this is a
volcano as you see all the volcanic rock (scoria) at your feet. As you ascend
the ridge there are several makeshift campsites that use the available rock to
build wind shelters. There is still 1,000 vertical feet to climb to get to
Lunch Counter. Somewhere around 8,400 feet we finally hit the snowfield, this
is what’s left of the Crescent Glacier, but it is a snowfield and there are no
crevasses to worry about. From here to Lunch Counter the travel would all be on
snow, you can stay on the rib in the rocks if you wish, but the snow seems to
be the easiest mode of transport.
 |
| Sunset on Mount St Helens |
Once on the snowfield I elected
to put on my crampons. You could easily climb the snow in boots, but I felt I
could move more efficiently with a solid purchase of the surface. The sweat
started dripping off me as the albedo from the snow and lack of wind made me
pant like a dog. I tried to put on sun block a couple times during the ascent,
but I’m sure most of it just sweat right off of me. Now that I had arrived at
Lunch Counter my task was to find a good campsite for the night. I had two
requirements for our campsite: near running water, near snow to cool our beer.
It took a bit to find the running water, and I would call it more of a trickle
than running. There was a small runout of water from the main snowfield heading
up the mountain that we were able to filter from. It took some time, but it was
better than melting snow or carrying up all the water we would need. We were
surrounded by smaller snowfields, so the cooler was not hard to find. Dry bags
filled with snow make nice portable coolers as well. Our camp was set up around
the 9,400 foot elevation and I would say we arrived there around 1:30pm.
 |
| Mount Adams Benchmark |
We had ample time to relax and
explore the area. The best part about our chosen campsite was the view. As the
sun was setting the colors on Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens were amazing, I
don’t think our photographs were able to capture the true color we were seeing.
We all stayed up till the light started to fade, then we hit the sack. Our
wake-up alarms were set for 3:30am.
It was rough waking up early,
but sometimes that’s the way it goes. After getting out of my tent I could see
a number of groups already on the mountain. We took in some breakfast and were
on the route by 4:30am. The goal was to see the sunrise from at least Pikers
Peak which is a sub summit of Mount Adams.
I was feeling pretty good from
the start and had the direct line of ascent in mind. I followed one group up
the first 300-400 vertical feet, as they stopped for a break I took the
opportunity to get ahead of them. I saw I was losing my group, but I wanted to
keep the pace going. At 5:37 I was on Pikers Peak, just before sunrise. In just
over an hour I was able to climb 2,200 feet. I love these steep ascents where
you just gain vertical elevation. Since the sunrise was close I continued to a
high point in-between Pikers and Adams to watch the morning come in. I figured
I’d have a bit of a wait for the rest of my group so after the sunrise I found
a large boulder to sit on where I would see them come up the trail.
 |
| Summit Crew: Me, LT, Cedric, Mark |
As I saw LT ascending the main
route, I started making a move up the ridge instead of dropping down to where
they were. There was maybe 500 vertical feet to the summit. I met up with
everyone about 100 vertical feet shy of the snow filled structure (I’m not
positive this was a fire lookout or a mining structure). We all crested about
the same time and the first thing you see is the dramatic view of Mount
Rainier. Most climbers hung out near the structure, we made our way east to the
true summit which is marked by a USGS benchmark. Just past 7am we were all on
the summit of Mount Adams.
We took maybe an hour on the
summit. LT proceeded to make us all breakfast in the form of salami, cheese,
crackers and a communal beer. He never disappoints, I guess that’s why I invite
him…haha. We explored the eastern side of the mountain where nobody else was
and the glaciers get pretty intense just of the edge.
 |
| Cedric Wandering |
As we started our descent we
could see the sun was already softening the top layer of snow. From Pikers down
the southern face it is pretty steep and the snow was a bit slushy. The
glissade chute from the top still seemed a bit iced over, so we descended maybe
600 feet before attempting to slide. These chutes resemble more of a bobsled
track as they are fairly curvy and can get up to three feet deep. I jumped in
without changing to my Gore-Tex, and I slid just fine. It didn’t take very long
to get down the remaining 1,500 feet near the rocks by our camp. My knees
appreciated the slide I’m sure.
Once we made it back to camp it
was time to pack it up and hit the trail back to the trucks. I wasn’t looking
forward to this part, so it was more about getting it over with at this point.
On the hike out we took advantage of sliding on the snow as much as we could. I
got a decent amount of snow into my boots making my socks wet, as we continued
down the trail I developed a nice dime sized blister on my left heel. I could
feel it pretty good over the last mile or so, but at that point it was a march
to the truck.
Now that the Adams climb was
behind us, my Dad and I had a day of rest before the climb of Rainier was to
begin. This is a fun climb, but the trip ends on a dusty trail that is a less
than pleasant ending. This is a busy area, not as busy as Colorado 14ers, but I
would guess there was at least a hundred people up on the mountain if not more
today. Now that the climb was over it was time for mending the body with a cold
beer...cheers!
Date: August
13-14, 2016
TH
Elevation: 5,600 feet
Lunch
Counter Camp: 9,400 feet
Mount Adams
Summit: 12,276 feet
Total
Ascent: 7,140 feet
Total
Distance: 13.9 miles
Class: snow
climb
Moving Time:
7 hours 26 minutes
Stopped
Time: 5 hour 29 minutes
Climbing
Partners: Mark, Loren, Cédric
No comments:
Post a Comment