Mt. Adams (12,276′)

Mount Adams is the second tallest peak in Washington State and it was the last on my list to complete of the 5 Washington State Volcanos. Strict advice was given by Dad last July as he informed me that, “Your Mother and I do not want you to climb Mt. Adams alone.” OK, followed his advice and enlisted the folks at Alpine Ascents.

We had to meet one day prior to the start of the climb to do a gear check at their office so I headed up to the Seattle/Bellevue area for the 7th or 8th trip so far this year and stopped by to see Mom for about 1/2 of a day. As the Fourth of July Holiday was in 2 days, I picked up some patriotic flowers to place by the wall at St. Andrews. Mom went to church a couple days later and noticed that the only thing left was one white flower and a pile of stems. Apparently the red, white and blue carnations are a favorite of the local bunny population!

I stayed at the historic Marqueen Hotel in downtown Seattle. It had a great history and the room was huge as it used to be an apartment – reminded me a bit of one of the apartments I lived in while attending WSU.

Only thing disappointing about this room was the fact that another building had been built right next to it so the only view was a mural painted on the other building!

Gear check at the Alpine Ascents office was nothing special. They used to prepare gourmet meals on these trips but once the pandemic hit and they had to change how the group interacted, it all ended up being freeze-dried meals. Yuck. At the gear check we got to meet the rest of the team. After the gear check we were all responsible for being down in the White Salmon area the next morning for the drive to the trailhead.

Unbeknownst to any of the team, a wildfire had started early afternoon on a hillside about 2 – 3 miles from White Salmon, and my hotel! Had to make a creative detour jumping off WA Hwy 14 down to OR Hwy 84 at the Bridge of the Gods and then beck over to WA Hwy 14 via the Hood River Bridge. Grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to bed.

View of the fire from the Oregon side on Hwy 84.
View of the Tunnel 5 Fire as I walked under the Hood River Bridge.
Mt. Hood from in front of the Inn of the White Salmon.

The next morning we all met in White Salmon and caravanned to the trailhead. Air quality index in White Salmon was 171 so it was good to get out of there!

First view of Mt. Adams. The trail, in essence follows the ridgeline from right to left to the summit in the middle.
Mt. Hood in the distance.
Guide JP and fellow climbers Sarah and Ericka (my tentmate.)
What a crappy job.

We ended up driving the last few miles to the trailhead behind the portapotty pumper. Unfortunately it broke down about 1/2 mile from the parking lot. A lot of anxiety as the cars started backing up behind our group. The air brake had apparently locked up when the truck went over a big bump in the road. Luckily it was a relatively quick fix!

Pep talk at the trailhead … and yes, if you know your mountain climbing etiquette, the guy with the black pack did pretty much everything wrong – caps on trekking poles the entire climb, ice axe stowed improperly, etc. But the guides corrected him eventually. It was his first actual mountain climb and he was pretty wiped out on summit day but made it!

A couple of short stretches of snow early on – not bad enough to pull out the crampons yet.
As we took a break we heard a lot of yelling and swearing from a woman who was not having fun. Apparently she was not able to find the correct path to a glissade route and once she found the glissade route she came spinning down the mountain like a throwing star. Luckily the glissade was not sure steep down this low and she was able to stop and her husband/partner then helped her the rest of the way. All I could think was, “Boy, that is going to be a long drive home!”

We got a pretty late start (in my book) but made good progress towards camp. The normal camp if you are doing Mt. Adams as a 2 day adventure is at what is called the “Lunch Counter” it is approximately 3,000′ and 4 miles from the trailhead. We stopped about 800′ short of the Lunch Counter as the guides wanted us to be able to get rid of our heavy packs earlier to set us up for a successful summit bid the following morning.

View of Mt. St. Helens to the west from our campsite.
Our camp looking up to the false summit (Pikers Peak.)
From our camp looking up to the ridge where the traditional camp is – the “Lunch Counter.”

With a 4:00am start we hoped to make the summit – another 3,000′ in 4 – 6 hours. Then we would come back, relax a bit, pick up camp and then head down for a total of 9,000 ‘ elevation gain/loss.

Hakeem – one of the three clients that were attempting Mt. Adams a second time. He and his wife were turned back last year with 40 mph winds and sleet at the top of Piker’s Peak.
Sun is just starting to come up. Looking up from first break area towards the top of the false summit.
“Sun cups” on almost the entire summit day made for a very slow and deliberate pace. These were frozen solid when we started out in the morning and very awkward to try and set a consistent pace.
Break area at the top of Piker’s Peak. we will cross a saddle and a large snowfield and then head up the second snow covered gulley from the right to the true summit – about an hour from here.
Looking down from the last steep snowfield down to Piker’s Peak.
Yay, made it! A 5 hour summit climb was right in the middle of what were thought it would take.
Different summit shot with Mt. Rainier in the background.
The team waiting for the last 2 to arrive.
Heading down and the amazing glissade chutes – saved hours and many miles on the knee joints!
Oops, still has the cap on one of his poles!

A couple last looks at the mountain. Super fun climb and luckily my lack of training didn’t affect me too much, although for a couple of days my calves and quads basically told me I had to walk down stairs sideways!

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