Mount Adams

Fresh on the heels of my hike up Mount St. Helens, I chose to tackle Adams the next weekend.  Adams is definitely a harder climb than St. Helens for a few reasons.

Always eat here if you are in Trout Lake!

First, it is a longer hike with more vertical feet to climb. While Helens can be finished in half a day, Adams take a full day to climb for most.
Second, St. Helens is less "technical"... I put that is quotation marks because both climbs are not really considered technical in mountaineering terms. That said, I could get to the top of St. Helens on a ridge of lava rocks barely ever touching the snow. Adams on the other hand was a long steep slog to on nothing but snow, making things like an ice-axe or crampons more necessary.
Third, Adams is quite a bit taller so the weather (and cold) is in a whole different category than St. Helens. Going up at the wrong time and unprepared is more likely to bite you in the butt.

Anyway, I had gear from my planning to hike the PCT that summer, so I packed a bit of food, hopped in the car, and drove to the Trout Lake Ranger Station to get my permit. That is easily done for Adams because it doesn't have a max number of climbers allowed like St. Helens does.

Driving to the trailhead was fine, though the last few miles are on a one-lane road that is pretty terrible! I made it just fine in my Ford Focus but had to drive carefully to  avoid bottoming out. I would suggest not taking a Prius up there. Instead, you may want to park down below that road and hike a little farther.

I arrived in the afternoon with the plan to camp halfway up on the "Lunch Counter", which is the name for the big bulge coming out of the south side of the mountain. Once I reached the treeline, the trail was lost in snow but there were other hikers coming down so I pieced out the gist of what direction to go. It was weird and new hiking a "choose your own adventure" path.

On the lunch counter, there are little campsites hidden among the rocks and I found one a bit before sunset, ate, and got comfy in my bivy sack. It was nice to jump into a sack and not worry about a tent and there were no bugs so I could basically cowboy camp in piece.

I awoke early the next morning as the wind started up. I quickly learned that sunrise affects the wind direction and intensity a lot on Adams. I started in the dark and things were mild but as I approached the summit and the sun approached the horizon, the wind really picked up from the West. By the time I got to Pikers Peak, the false south summit of the mountain, the wind was howling, affecting balance and cooling me down a lot every time I stopped moving.

After a short break to warm up behind a rock wall, I headed to the summit. It was unreal. St. Helens felt high but this felt like I was half way to outer space. I could see basically forever in every direction and it reminded me of how small I was!

On the way down, I made a big mistake but it didn't cost me much. Though I was much better dressed, I still was freezing pretty quickly standing atop that mountain and the 30-ish mph winds. So I started my decent around 8:30 or 9:00... and tried to glissade down...

For those who don't know, "glissading" is basically sliding back down the mountain on your butt. It is just long-distance sledding. It is also how most people get hurt on trips like this one. Why? Because people lose control and can't stop... for that reason, it is the official stance of the park service that people should NOT glissade. That said, everyone does it anyway... just not as early as I did it... when the snow is still pretty hard and icy.

Luckily for me, I was able to stop but I bruised my butt up and scratched up my wrists when I was grabbing for purchase and my gloves got pulled up. Altogether, I felt very lucky to escape as I did. The snowy slope below Pikers Peak is like a mile long and much of it is well over a 45 degree slope... if I had really lost control, I would have tumbled for a LONG time and things could have ended much worse... so don't be stupid like me... wait till lunchtime if you are planning on glissading!

Mount Saint Helens

I had a fun trip back home after giving up on the PCT thru-hike.  I took the train back home. It was not always comfortable but an adventure. Trying to sleep in the LA terminal was an experience and a great chance to people watch!  I also met some interesting people to talk with during the 12+ hour trip back to Portland.  I met a lady who told me about the time she was the personal driver for one of the Beatles when he visited the home of Dorothy Day. Laura and I enjoy arguing over whether that lady was telling the truth or a just little crazy.

I sat at home for a few days and licked my wounds but soon was ready to make the most of the rest of my summer. After checking online, I was able to get a permit to climb St. Helen's that weekend. I had never done it and was excited to see it. 

I drove up to the mountain but couldn't buy a parking pass because the office at the Ape Caves was already closed and I had no cash. I chose to camp at the "Climbers Bivouac" and leave early the next morning. But there was a bigger adventure in store for me...

At about 10:30 pm, I was awakened by someone calling on the emergency phone near the bathroom. He notified authorities that there was an 80-year-old man injured on the trail. The man had slid into rock while on his way down from the mountain, possibly breaking bones, possibly getting a concussion, and he was still a couple miles up the trail in the snow. 

Upon hearing this, I volunteered (as someone with fresh legs) to help out and started up for the old man and his hiking partner immediately. When I reached them, I found the man was in pretty bad shape. He was being supported by his hiking partner but they had been hiking, very slowly, for about 16 hours. I offered a shoulder and also occasionally scouted ahead to find smooth paths through the snow banks. We arrived at the trail head at around midnight. I saw the unfortunate hiker off and tried for a bit to get to sleep but I quickly realized sleep was not going to happen. I also had a good sense of what the trail was like... so I started my hike at about 1:15 am.

There was plenty of time so I hiked carefully and slowly, arriving at the summit just before sunrise. It was pretty easy to climb up the volcanic rocks once I reached the timberline and it was just light enough to see the next wooden pole marking the route. 

It was AMAZINGLY beautiful!

Like, really!!

I stood around and marveled at the breathtaking view and took way too many pictures. I was the only person up there, passing my first hiker on the way down. I enjoyed the solitude I did find myself wishing I had someone to turn to and say "Wow!".

I am so glad that I hiked up when I did! I was initially concerned because the parking lot/trail had only recently opened and there was plenty of hiking on snow. I didn't want to get lost, but it turned  out the trail was pretty easy to follow even in the dark.

In hindsight, my only errors were: 

1. I didn't have a warm enough clothes on... and because of that I left the summit while it was still early and... 

2. I slid on my butt (without a trash bag) in the snow before it got soft enough, chewing my pants up a bit.

It was fun to watch clouds roll in from the ocean during the sunrise. They poured into the valleys below, creating foggy conditions by the time I arrived back at the car.

When I got home, I planned to hike Mount Adams the next weekend!