So our next big adventure (which by now was several weeks ago) was to summit the second tallest mountain in the state! The same friends we did the last trip with have been checking off all of the Washington mountains, so their next one was Mt Adams. It's not terribly technical, so we decided to get in on this adventure. We had to get permits several weeks in advance, so coincidentally it ended up being on the weekend that my parents were also in town. Unfortunately that meant we missed a day of hanging out with them, but it also meant we had a puppy sitter for Ben at the house! There's no way he would have made it up this mountain, it was far too icy and steep.
We started out by leaving work early Friday afternoon and driving down to the base of Mt Adams. By that time it was already around 7pm, so we hiked in a couple of miles that night and met up with Corey and Allison who had already set up camp at Morrison Creek. It was a great location that was still far enough down the mountain and in enough trees to be somewhat warm and blocked from winds.
We got a few hours of sleep before getting up and hitting the trail around 4am. We left all the big stuff at our camp site and just brought the essentials up the mountain. After another hour or so we ended up at Lunch Counter which is where most people camp out. It was really lovely there, but also super windy and cold so I'm really glad we camped further down the mountain. There also weren't any trees at that point up the mountain, so I'm sure bathroom breaks were a little precarious in the middle of the night.. We stopped here behind a rock shelter to have out coffee and breakfast before the tough part of the climb.
A little past that point is where we put on our crampons as it got much icier and steeper. From there on it was pure ice and nearly a 45 degree incline straight up the mountain. The first relief you hit is the false summit, only to realize you have to go down the other side and up even further to the real summit. At this point the climb is nearly done though, so you just have to push on. Finally up at the summit, it was freeeeezing. Even taking gloves off to take a few pictures, I lasted about 5 photos before I had to warm up my hands to make them work again. It was really pretty though and totally worth it! From the top you can see the north side of the mountain and get great views of Mt Rainier. It was also a perfectly blue skied day which was amazing!
After our few minutes on the summit, we got to do the fun part...glissading down the mountain! This is pretty much just sliding on your butt all the way down the mountain in chutes that have been carved out of the ice/snow by other people doing the same thing. It makes the distance much quicker/easier to cover! You get moving pretty fast on some of the good chutes, so I had my ice axe out to dig into the sides for a brake as well. There were a few parts where I got going fast enough around a curve that it just shot me right out of the chute too! By the end we were completely soaked and full of snow, but made it down really quick!
We got back to our camp site and packed up quickly and headed back down to the trailhead to drive back to Seattle. The next day I got to spend Father's Day with my father which is the first time is a really long time that that has happened! We went to church in the morning followed by brunch and a nice lazy day. It was great having them around for a few days and hopefully they'll be making the big move out west soon to join us all on the Best Coast ;)
