Mount Adams is a 12,281 foot tall stratovolcano in Southern Washington. The hiking group was Don, Allen Roberts, and Sheira Henderson (the same crew from Mount Shasta last year – most of the pictures shown here were taken by Allen and Sheira). Our Suburban got stuck about 3 miles from the trailhead, at the 4500 foot level. After digging it out, we hiked up to the Lunch Counter (9400 feet) in snowshoes. The weather was almost too good – clear skies and sunny temperatures made the snow soft. We had the mountain nearly to ourselves – the Forest Service had issued a severe avalanche warning, probabably on the basis of a slide on Mount Rainier (50 miles to the north) that had buried 11 people, one of whom was never found. The report had made us a little cautious, but we encountered a ranger on the way up who assured us that the snow pack was stable and there was little to fear.
Temperatures fell below freezing overnight, making the snowpack very firm when we started hiking Sunday morning at 5:00am. We used crampons for the remaining 3000 vertical feet, summiting about 9:30am. The reward was tremendous views – peaks of the Cascade volcanic arc were visible from Mount Baker in the north (near the Canadian border), all the way to the Three Sisters in central Oregon. Views of Rainier, Mount Hood, and Mount Saint Helens were particularly spectacular.
Glissading back to the Lunch Counter only took about 45 minutes, followed by a longer slog through soft snow, as temperatures had risen into the 70’s on the lower part of the mountain. Don made it back to the Portland airport for an 8:20pm flight and a return to the mundane world.