Mount Adams South Climb — Saturday, May. 29, 2021

Of the banter and small talk that occupies passing strangers during the elation of having summitted a peak, Adams lies somewhere between Pilchuk and Bedal Creek in the avoidable but inevitable pissing contest that is worst WA trailhead road:

• "Ah, well, have you been to Mt Adams?" 😅
• "I popped a tire and had a flat!" 😱
• "My car's wheel fell off!" 🤔
• "My friend's car slipped off the edge and did a barrel roll into a ditch!" 😬

That the road to Mount Adams is legendarily bad is an unquestioned truism of WA climbers.

Well, I am here to say the infamy of NF-500 is undeserved. The road is just fine. My MINI had no trouble whatsoever puttering along in 2nd. Indeed, the only difficulty of the road is other drivers and traffic.

I slept in my car at the Morrison Creek campground, which was mostly empty when I arrived at 10pm. Woke up at 5am, but was too cold to get going. Drove closer to the trailhead without going to the endless backup (marked on map below). Set off at ~6am and walked ~1.5mi to the trailhead.

The snow starts from the trailhead marker. I donned my crampons because I could sit on the wooden railing, but they were unnecessary. For skiers: putting on skis before 6000ft is ambitious unless you enjoy skinning over dirt and rocks.

The bootpath follows the usual South Climb route until its bifurcation, at
which point it beelines N for 0.8mi before bending NE toward South Butte and
rejoining the path.

Had my lunch break at 9300ft and felt a tad forlorn looking up at Pikers Peak. The northerly wind meant a leeward climb exposed to the brutal southern summer sun. Not a cloud in the sky for miles. 😎

The next 2000ft made me wish I'd started earlier; by 9am, the snow was soft
enough that you sunk in with each step, which gets old, especially after 90 minutes of such an ordeal. This was the only time I appreciated my crampons, as they allowed me to kick steps into the ice and avoid the long, slow conga lines occupying the bootpath; otherwise, spikes would've sufficed.

Opted not to succumb to a "quick break" at Pikers Peak and pushed onto the summit. Geez it was hot and I finished my 2L of water wishing I had more. Abused my competitive nature (summit in under 5h) to kick it into overdrive, but fell short at 5h20m from the TH. It was just too hot!

The false summit is better than the real one IMO. Great photo ops. Could see Baker, Glacier, Tahoma, St. Helens, Hood, Jefferson, Sisters, Olympus. I don't think I've ever been afforded a better view of surrounding peaks!

Too icy to slide down to Pikers Peak, but the glissading from there on was phenomenal with chutes that lasted several hundred feet. Only wish I had a husky contractor bag because no goretex pants meant my butt was frozen. (Would anyone like some lipo cryotherapy?) Kept finding runs until 7000ft.

Gear: Speedgoat trailrunners, ice axe (only for glissading), poles, gaiters, crampons, goretex & liner gloves, hardshell jacket

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://caltopo.com/m/HDLC