It has been a busy month of July! The first couple of weeks I was out in Denali (TR coming soon), last weekend (7/24) St. Helens with Jeff (jtost), and this weekend we did Mt. Adams.
When you are hiking Mt. Adams you can do it a couple of ways. Most people spread out the trip over two days, hiking up to what is known as the 'Lunch Counter' at 9000 ft to spend the first night, helping to acclimatize, and then gaining the summit the next day at 12,000+ ft.
Jeff and myself decided that we would save a little time and hike from the trailhead to the summit in one day and get the torture over with a little quicker. That is a 6700 ft elevation gain, alot to do in a single day. We figured if we started way early at 3 am, we'd be having celebratory gatorade swigs at the summit by at the latest 12 noon.
We got into the 'South Climb' trailhead by midnight Friday night. There were alot of cars, but not many tents, or people for that matter. We assumed most were camping up at the 'Lunch Counter'. We decided that a 3am wakeup call was a tad much and instead slept in till 5am.
By 6am we were cruising down the trail. I have heard many say there was considerably less snow at this point in summer, but it was adequate enough. It was still early by the time we reached our first snowfield, so the snow was pretty icy. We decided to don our crampons and begin the snow trek.
This was my first time using crampons and they worked like a charm. It was great just charging up the slope without having to dig steps or find a premade path left by some other hiker. As well I couldn't help but notice the 'I should have brought my damn crampons' look on the faces of those hikers we passed going up.
Not having the benefit of acclimatizing I really began to feel the effects when we got to around 8200 ft. Headache, nausea, morning oatmeal sitting in my stomach, and just a little breathless, but that was probably from the effort.
We gazed over to the side at the deep chutes and I couldn't help but think to myself that the slope is a little steep. Dreams of barrelling down at 60 mphs filled our heads and motivated us to push further.
Man, there was alot of people! Scattered up the slope climbing, and many people now sliding down the chutes. Some hikers going up were stepping into the chutes, while hikers were sliding down them. I am sure a collision or two could be probably, but not today.
We finally made our purchase at the 'Lunch Counter', a large flattened area with exposed rock areas where many people camp. There were rock walls spaced out in the area, and more than a few tents.
We found a spot and took a nice hour nap and had some mediocre sandwiches. The Sun was out and bearing down on us. I took a few ibuprofen to quell my headache, but my stomach was still rolling.
The last 3000 ft was definitely the hardest. We ascended gradually steepening slopes, with descending hikers cruising down through the chutes. More than a couple of people ran out of water and were making their rounds asking others for a little agua. Unfortunately I couldn't spare a drop as I was running through my stores pretty quick myself.
One guy was glissading down with his dog running beside him. The dog ran in front of the guy into the chute and almost ejected the fella to the side. It was pretty funny.
We were coming up a nice steep slope to Pikers Peak, and I was exhausted! I was fighting to keep my breath, but every few steps it felt like my heart was going to come out of my throat.
On contrast, a couple that was climbing with us had slept the previous night at the 'Lunch Counter' and they didn't seem to be having nearly as much trouble as Jeff and I. I guess acclimatizing is helpful...
We got to Pikers Peak, a flat area at about 11000 ft. There was quite a few people hanging out eating, preparing for the last 1000 ft to the summit or preparing to head down. I decided to drop most of my equipment here and just bring a bottle of gatorade and hiking polls to the summit. Jeff grabbed his day pack as well.
We dropped down from Pikers to a saddle with melting ice and streams running over it. One last climb up a rock slope led us to the summit. By this time I had to stop after every 20 ft or so to catch my breath. It was difficult and a little frustrating. Jeff lumbered ahead to the summit, while I decelerated down at a more conservative pace.
The building at the summit came into view and I spied Jeff sitting on a snow pile beside it drinking gatorade and relaxing. Finally made it! I was spent. Mt. Rainier finally came into view. It was bright and clear.
We just hung out for a bit, alternating glimpses of Mt. Hood, Rainier, and St. Helens. St. Helens had a nice layer of clouds hovering below it. Behind the summit building some neat little snow spikes in a row on the ground.
One guy got to the summit after us, plopping on the ground, and proceeding to a deep sleep. We wanted to explore the summit area a little, but our bodies were singing to a different song entitled "I am tired, get me down now!" I took the last couple gulps of gatorade I had, then we angled back down to Pikers Peak.
A nice chute started at Pikers. We watched a couple of people go down the chute before deciding that we could too without breaking our neck. One guy before us even gave a tutorial on how to break with your ice axe and feet. I never used the bottom of the shaft, which was what he was advising, so Jeff and I decided we'd try it out on the way down.
I took a gulp of air, sat my rear down on the edge of Pikers Peak and pushed myself down the chute. The glissading was great, with long chutes to cruise down. As the chutes were pretty deep, it was easy to break and slow down. The slopes were steep, but there were enough twists and turns in the chutes to keep good control. This was great! We were getting down later so there weren't as many people coming up to avoid.
We briefly paused and there was an older fella getting ready to glissade. He had almost gotten to Pikers Peak, but had to turn back because he was too exhausted to make it the entire way. I let him cut in front of me, and he looked like a little kid with a big grin sliding down the slope.
Jeff and I eventually got down to about 7200 ft, most of it glissading. We were having so much fun that we deviated from the trail. I didn't want the glissading to end, but we hit our last slope, and got up, wobbly-legged, to hike out the rest of the way.
I noticed rather quickly that my headache cleared up, and it was great to breath again as well. I guess the elevation can be a factor, even at 12,000 ft.
When we got back to the trailhead I noticed how bad my sunburn was. Must have been all that snow, which scalded my shoulders and head. I had a few sun induced blisters, which was surprising considering I applied and reapplied sunblock 4-5 times on the way up.
We drove back out and got some great sunset views of Adams along the way. What a long, hard, but incredible day of hiking!!