Click on the image above to download and view the route we used in Google Earth.
Looking up towards the summit from about half way in between Cold Springs camp and the base of the South Butte.
The last time we planned on heading to Mt Adams was in 2008. About a week before we were going to go, the trailhead caught fire by lightning strikes. Cold Springs was closed because apparently the forest service doesn't like people and fire to mix together. So, instead of Adams we opted for Plan B. This year I wasn't sure when (if any) I'd have the opportunity to go somewhere. I knew I wanted to go up Adams. In 2008 we were going to use the Mazama glacier route, which required a little more technical gear. This year I didn't care which route, I just wanted to summit. I just wanted to get out on the trail, in the trees, on the snow, up, up and up. Living in the desert isn't me, even though I do. I gotta have trees. I gotta smell the pine. Something in me likes to be in a place where the weather could change instantly and that I have to be prepared for that.
So, the South Spur route it was. I decided 2 weeks before going. I emailed some friends to try and get some company. Only one was a dedicated outdoorsman enough to want to go (Luke). The others (coughShaneycoughRogercough-coughNathan) have other things to do than to stand on top a 12,000+ foot thing of beauty. So it was just me and Luke heading there. 2 people is enough.
The plan: Be at the "trailhead" by 9pm Saturday night and be on the trail by 2:30am. The result: got to the trailhead around 11:30pm and was on the trail by 3:00am. Cold Springs trailhead still had 5 feet of snow so the parking lot was 2.5 miles shy of Cold Springs. Maybe got an hour's worth of sleep in the car. I don't sleep well in cars, especially ones parked barely off the road with 4,000 other cars and people and more cars going past my door every 1/2 hour waking me up. But once we hit the trail (road) we were well on our way and made it to Cold Springs within the first hour.
Mt. Hood tempting me to slow down while the sun was rising.
Phase 1 - Butt Kicking:
Since the last time I did any physical movement (exercise) besides going from house to car to office and then reversing that sequence was almost 6 months prior, I was a *little* out of shape and we slowed down after putting on the crampons just above Cold Springs. Plus the sun was rising and the camera was hard to put down. By the time we got to the bottom of the long haul to Lunchcounter it was full daylight. This is where the butt kicking started and I wasn't the one doing the butt kicking. The section from the bottom of South Butte to the Lunchcounter is where I learned that even though the South Spur route isn't technical, it isn't "easy" either. I knew I wasn't in shape at all too. That probably would have made this part more tolerable, but I didn't think we'd ever get to Lunchcounter. I was passed up by several and started getting ticked that I was so pathetic.
Initiate the butt kicking sequence.
Phase 2 - More Butt Kicking:
Once we arrived at Lunchcounter we took an extended break. We were behind in terms of schedule. My conditioning was slowing us down. I was doing all I could to keep up with Luke. My stomach started feeling bad at this point too. I wasn't hungry at all, even after working so hard and really not having much to eat since waking up. Unless my mind was playing tricks on me, I just felt like I should be hungrier. I forced half of a Clif bar down, hid some gear in the rocks to lighten the load and started off towards the bottom of Pikers Peak. This is where I fully realized I was in trouble. This next section made the previous section (which gave me a royal you know what kicking) look like a walk in the park. I was totally regretting not doing an ounce of conditioning for this trip.
But oh well. Luke started off. I was still snapping photos and avoiding the inevitable. Once I put away the camera, I got to work. At first I was second guessing myself and my ability to complete a South Spur attempt. My mind wouldn't let me think of it too much though. I couldn't possibly fail at this route due to conditioning. After about 15 minutes of that thought repeating in my mind I began to find a groove and realized I wasn't really getting tired past a certain point. I think I found my second wind.
My second wind was quickly deflated about half way up to the false summit. I couldn't believe how much further we had to go. This was so much different than Rainier. Rainier had switch backs and wasn't quite as steep and straight. Plus, on Rainier I would've been camping by now at Muir. I felt like I was continuing on past Muir. At this point, if Luke said he was turning around I would've gone with him; I was waiting for him to say it. He seemed to be slowing down as well as the distance between us became shorter. But I think all I needed was a little break, which we took, because once I got going again I felt that groove hittin' again. It wasn't easy, but a little at a time the false summit got closer and closer until I was there. I turned around a Luke was a couple minutes behind.
Continue the butt kicking sequence. The top of the photo is Piker's Peak.
I went ahead and dropped down to the valley between Pikers Peak and the bottom of the real summit. I dropped my gear and started boiling water since I was out of it. Luke was out too. Glad I had my stove this time. This was another extended break, trying to get pumped up to hit the final summit push. We were waaay behind scehdule at this point. Most everyone had already sumitted and we were the last. We started for the summit and finally made it at 3:00pm in the afternoon. The last part was probably the easiest since Cold Springs. But still, 3pm. Thats horrible. Thats crazy.
Oh well. It was worth it.
Black and white of the clouds from the summit.
We snapped some pics up there, changed into our snow pants for the ride down, spoke briefly to a lone boarder who also summitted just before us, looked around and decided we should get going. All the way up I watched skiers come down. This is where I would have loved to have packed a snowboard or skis. I'm horrible at using them, but still would have found extreme joy (and speed) in getting back down the mountain. Maybe next time I'll try it.
Luke.
Kelly.
After we started our descent, the clouds started rolling in and it got a little dark.
The glissading was OK. It was way too late to really have a blast. Don't get me wrong, glissading took tons of time off our descent but doing it earlier would've been much better. We were back down to Lunchcounter within 1/2 hour. Walking through the Lunchcounter was a joke. The snow was as soft and wet as a western Washington snow storm and we were post-holing like crazy up to the thighs. This made the going extremely slow. After struggling to grab my stashed gear we continued down, post-holing almost the entire way until the South Butte.
You can see the dead trees from the 2008 fire that derailed our first attempt at Adams.
Once we got to the tree line the going got a little easier. I was spent by this time. Whenever I get to this "spent" point and I'm heading downhill I usually don't remember much of the descent. I get so focused on getting that I usually don't take the time to soak it all in as much as I can like I intend to when the anticipation and excitement of preparing for this trip is eating me up.
Luke and I made it back to the car around 7pm. 13 hours up, 4 hours down. I would have enjoyed this trip a lot more by staying a night on the mountain which I hope to do some time in the near future. My favorite mountain has always been Rainier and Adams was always "that other mountain". I always saw it as the Rainier wannabe. No more of that. This mountain is just as beautiful as the bigger version (Rainier). It's just as challenging, but in a different way. The trees are a bit different. Rainier is more wet with more fir trees. Adams trees are more pine. Not complaining, just observing. The remoteness of this mountain is beautiful as well. I couldn't imagine the draw that this mountain would bring if it were more accessible. This is a good thing. So...
A few more shots are located here.
-Kelly