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I’m just down from climbing Mount Adams.  What a fantastic trip!  My cousins Tom, Don, Annapurna (16 years old) and Brianne, shared in the fun with my friend Jack and I.

The third highest and second most massive of the Cascade Volcanos, Mount Adams draws many climbers with its close proximity to both Seattle and Portland.  The views of Hood, Saint Helens and Rainer are incredible and the standard route has very little objective hazard.

Saturday we climbed from the cars at 5,300′ to our camp at just over 9,000′.  We ate and watched a lovely sunset, although I would have appreciated some clouds for drama…

After a night of high winds whipping the tents and very little sleep, I awoke early to photograph the dawn before heading up to the  summit at 12,281′.

The wind that had kept us awake in the night continued unabated, making it difficult to feel excited about gearing up and leaving the shelter of the tents so early.  The route climbs a 2,000′ face to a false summit known as Piker’s Peak.  Above this we found the actual summit covered in a large lenticular cloud 800′ above.

By noon the six of us stood in a windy whiteout toasting our success with champagne, tamales, and jerky.  Sadly, the cloud obscured what must be a magnificent view of Mt. Rainer to the north, but the sense of accomplishment was palpable.  Our entire group had made it.  For Tom, Annapurna, Brianne, and Jack this was their first big Alpine summit.

Now came the fun part.  There is no better glissade (sliding down the mountain controlling yourself with an axe) in the country –and perhaps the world– than Mount Adams.  The steep slope we had trudged up from camp to Piker’s Peak was now a fun-filled, fast-moving roller coaster ride to the bottom.  Everyone had grins on their sunburned faces.

This was a fantastic trip and I’d like to acknowledge and thank everyone on it for making it so special.

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