Mt. Adams 8/24/14 - 8/25/14

I had for sure wanted to attempt another mountain climb during the summer.  A friend from work, Anthony, was also into climbing, so we decided to give Mt. Adams a try.  Our route was up the south side, so pretty non-technical.  It was just a slog up a snowy and icy mountain.  Jason couldn't join us, unfortunately.

Anthony and I packed up our gear, and then flew to Portland early on the morning of the 24.  We arrived, and picked up a rental car to drive to the trailhead for Mt. Adams south side.  This was not without, however, a delay to find some butane fuel for my stove.

From the moment we started hiking up through the forest the weather was sketchy.  For about the next two hours we had on and off rain, and thunder and lightening overhead.  We kept going, however, passing lots of people heading back to their vehicles.

As we gained altitude, and left the tree line behind the storms began to get worse, in the distance.  We even came across a ranger who was trying to locate somebody injured on the slopes.  Still, we decided to press upward.  We were already exposed, so going down wouldn't help out our situation much.

We reached the base of the permanent snowfield, near Crescent Glacier.  It was hear that the weather began to take a turn for the worse.  We stood around watching people come off from high on the mountain, and then we decided last second to set up the tent and throw our gear inside.  We couldn't have made a better decision.  When we jumped inside it was raining and dumping ice pellets pretty hard.  So we hunkered down for a good 2 hours waiting for it to blow over.

The storm lifted thereafter, and we slowly crawled out of our sleeping bags.  The cold wind was still blowing, but I got some water boiling to prepare meals.  It was clear we weren't going to climb another 1,000 feet or so to our original high camp, so we were stuck here.  There were a couple other climbing groups near us that said they received weather reports calling for more storms overnight, and high winds on the summit.  Some of them even headed down.

Anthony and I decided to stick it out.  We had already set up camp.  Worse case, if it was bad weather at 4 am, we would turn around and go home.  So we enjoyed our freeze dried meals.  As the evening wore on it began to clear up and we had a beautiful sunset.

                         (Sunset with Mt. St. Helens to the left)
Anthony tried on his crampons and went a ways up the snowbank.  The rest of the time we spent packing up our gear for the climb in the morning, and buckling the tent down for the storm we thought was coming.  Then we went to bed.

4 am arrived and we pulled ourselves out of our sleeping bags.  Peeking my head out of the tent I saw clear skies.  Stars, and the lights of Hood River, OR, to the south in the Columbia River Gorge.  No storm ever came through.  It was a perfect morning.  So the two of us excitedly moved about to warm up, eat some breakfast, get geared up, and we started off up the slope.

The snow was pretty hard from the freezing overnight.  This was my first time actually getting to use my crampons and practice my technique.

As the sun began poking up we neared the "Lunch Counter".  It was the typical high camp spot where most climbers spend the night.  We cross a large exposed rocky area, and then found ourselves at the base of Piker's Peak.  It's the hardest part of the entire climb.  It's almost 2,000 feet of snow.  Numerous false summits along the way keep teasing you.  Reaching the top you are discouraged to see "summit after summit" ahead of you.

(Base of Piker's Peak)

The slog up the 2,000 foot wall was made more demanding by fresh powder that had fallen the day before.  Powder filled in all the "sun cups" melted into the snow and ice.  It resulted in irregular stepping patterns.  One step you kick into the snow and get a good grip.  The next kick, your leg plunges down 4 inches.

Two other climbers were setting a faster pace, but we finally reached Piker's Peak.  It was a pleasant victory.  As we breathed in occasional whiffs of sulfur, we admired the view of the summit, ahead.

We had a semi-downhill stroll across a broad open area before we reached the base of the final summit climb.  Through this area we could see cracks in the ice as it slid off the mountain.  It looked like the head of one of Adam's many glaciers.

The summit couldn't come soon enough.  We each arrived around 09:53: It took us about 5 hours or so to climb about 4,000+ feet to the top.  The view was amazing.  Adams is known for its panoramic view.  Rainier to the north, Helens to the south-west, Hood to the South, and we could barely make out Jefferson still farther South, past Hood.  There is even an old mining shack on the summit from the sulfur mining era.

We rested, ate food, and got the two climbers that passed us to take a photo for us.  Then it was time to head down.  When we arrived back at the top of Piker's Peak we glissaded down as far as we could.

The weather began to deteriorate as we left.  Lots of mist and clouds filled our view and we couldn't see much until we neared our campsite again.  We let a few things dry out as we packed up, and started back down the mountain.  Anthony was ahead of me most of the time.  My mountain boots weren't fitting properly and my feet were in a lot of pain.  So I lagged behind, all the way back down the mountain.

But we did eventually make it back in the afternoon.  We had time to return the rental car in Portland, stagger in Wendy's to grab some food, and catch the last flight back to Boise that night.  It was an amazing trip and it was nice to summit on such a gorgeous day!