Mt Adams
1 May 2018
I had some time off work (contract stuff for Navy) recently, and decided to spend two weeks in the Pacific Northwest, bagging peaks and visiting old friends. You gotta make time for old friends.
Because when all is said and done you probably won’t give a damn if your boss got the TPS Report on time. But you will feel pretty bad if you and your best friend drifted apart over the years……slowly succumbing to the general malaise and deadened emotions so characteristic of ‘adulthood’ and ‘corporate responsibility’. Nah we’re not having any of that up in here. Time goes by a little more slowly over beers and in the great ranges of the world.
The general consensus on an early season ascent of Mt Adams goes like this: it is a bad idea. Mostly because the dirt road leading to the South Climb Trailhead is not plowed. However, it is well known that the trailhead, or location where the walk begins, is completely arbitrary. John Muir regularly visited the Ritter Range from a base camp in Tuolumne Meadows, or even Yosemite Valley, carrying only a few bricks of stale bread and a wool sweater on his person. By himself. No really, he would sleep on pine boughs and cozy up to the fire to keep warm, sometimes. Did you know that he bagged the first ascent of The Mountaineer’s Route on Mt Whitney FROM THE TOWN OF INDEPENDENCE?! Point is, you don’t have much of an excuse for waiting to do Mt Adams with the Memorial Day Weekend Horde.
The peak is especially accessible in spring time via ski. Indeed, over the last few days I had truly come to appreciate the joy of traversing the big mountains on ski. Say goodbye to postholing, say hello to beautiful white snow-capped summits and corn corn corn, gliding all the way down the mountain to the car. Or at least somewhere nearby — it’s no fun walking in ski boots but you can’t control everything.
As usual, I’ve only a passing interest in chronicling the details of the climb. Besides it might obscure the main point: that climbing Mt Adams before the road melts is a lot of fun. Hell, you could backpack in, sleep on the snow, and enjoy the peace and quiet of having the mountain all to yourself. Just by walking a little bit further on a sloppy dirt road.
Anyway. Here’s a link to the Cascade Climbers forum (where I was gathering some useful beta) and a few pictures, of course. Enjoy!
