Mount Adams South Climb — Friday, Jun. 21, 2019

This was my first climb where I had an overnight pack and had to utilize gear other than hiking boots and trekking poles. It was phenomenal and I don't think we could have chosen a better couple days to do it in.

My girlfriend and I chose to do this climb over 2 days and camp out at Lunch Counter. We could have done it in a day but we would have been more than wrecked and it would have been a lot less fun.

We got to the trailhead around 8:00am and started up the trail with the plan to come up the summer route. We went up slightly to the west of the summer route but farther east of the winter route. We made it up just fine and I am glad we came up the way we did. We reached Lunch Counter by about 12:30PM or so. We felt almost refreshed by the time we got up there and I am sure it was due to planned breaks for food and water but also taking 20 steps or so and taking a rest-step to breathe 3-6 breaths then continue. It works and I highly recommend this method. We didn't use our crampons till it became steep enough that we were really tired of sliding back a bit and kept them on for the short rock crossings although the sound of rock and crampon is like nails on a chalkboard LOL

We gauged which way the wind was coming from and chose a site that would leave our tent the most shielded from the wind and the site we found was perfect. It allowed us to put our "kitchen" just outside of the circular camp site so we could cook without too much wind interference as well. We melted a bunch of snow for more drinking water the next day but also to cook with. 

NOTE: do not underestimate how much water you will need! 2-3 liters per days is a hard number in my opinion. I had just under that and was dehydrated most of the next day and I could tell, especially being at elevation. That being said a few Ibuprofen before you begin your climb will help a lot as well (an old mountaineer laid that one on me)

We went to sleep around 7PM (though being the summer solstice it was so bright). We had a 3-season tent and were warm enough. We were incredibly fortunate because the wind went to nothing a few hours later. It was crystal clear and there was ZERO wind which is slightly creepy if you have never experienced it before. No people sounds, no animal sounds, no tents flapping, nothing! We got our backpacks ready the night before and slept in the clothes we were mostly going to climb in for the next day. Got up and started up to Pikers Peak around 3AM, though if you want to catch sunrise you have to begin way earlier. The moon was about 2/3 full and if it wouldn't have been right behind us we wouldn't have need headlamps to start the climb. The stars were so bright and big and when the sun started to rise you could see Mt. Jefferson behind Mt. Hood.

We made it to the summit around 8AM. Hitting Pikers Peak was elating but to see the path slope ever so slightly down and then back up was comically disheartening LOL! Getting to the top of Pikers Peak was brutal but it is the hardest you will have to work. It’s still tough getting to the summit but the steepest is right there. The last 200ft. of elevation was when my head popped high enough to see Mt. Rainier and for a few minutes I forgot how tired I was, how hard I had just worked and the only thing that my brain focused on was that big bad-ass beautiful mountain!

We spent about 20 minutes or so at the summit (even had a few minutes with just the two of us up there!) and headed back down. I am glad we split the climb into 2 days and that we began on a weekday because Saturday was insanely busy, a lot of skiers with some climbers mixed in. When I do it again I will pick two weekdays most likely.

We got back down to our tent around 9:30AM after walking about half way down and glissading the other half which my deformed, jinky knees thanked me greatly for (I use HypaFix and Leukotape to keep the kneecap from moving too much laterally back and forth)! I highly recommend glissading as much as possible, it’s easier on the joints but it is so much fun! We broke up camp, packed everything away, and clouds started to roll in. Our weather was perfect, clear, not too windy and sunny! I didn't even need snow pants or my gaiters. We chose to go down the winter route to glissade as often as we could and we shaved about 1 ½ hours off of our hike down time. One glissade chute was nearly 300 feet and I felt like a little kid going down it! Made it back to the trailhead around 3PM and grabbed a burger and a beer at the only place in Trout Creek to eat! Not sure if it tasted so good because of how tired we were or if it was really that good LOL

All in all it was an amazing experience and you won’t regret doing it if you are smart about it and don’t underestimate the climb.

My gear list –

• Northface 50L backpack
• Trekking poles
• Grivel G Zero Ice Axe
• TPS 520 GV Evo Backpacking Boot
• Mountain Hardware crampons
• Cloudline Ski/Snowboard ultralight sock (2 pair)
• Columbia long sleeve shirt with SPF protection (worn on the way to/from Lunch Counter)
• Under Armor Women’s Cold Gear Mockneck long sleeve (from Lunch Counter to Summit and back)
• Marmot Aruna Puffy Jacket
• Burton Snowboarding Jacket (which I did not need at all)
• Zella leggings (my thickest running tights)
• Athleta Trekkie hiking pant
• Northface Headband (keep the ears warm)
• Native Hardtop Ultra sunglasses
• Hat with bill
• Scott Snowboarding gloves
• OR Gear gaiters (forgot them and was just fine)
• Bear Minimum Baby Bear Blue 32oz Folding cooking pot
• Etekcity Ultralight Portable Outdoor Backpacking Camping Stove with Piezo Ignition
• Sawyer Products SP131 PointOne Squeeze Water Filter System with 3 Pouches (bought but didn’t use, we got our snow from the middle of a field where there were no foot tracks, dug down a bit and risked it)
• GSI Outdoors Infinity Backpacker Mug, Green
• Camping utensils
• Big Agnes Junior Wolverine 15° Bag (I am short and this was a hair too short for me but it was super warm!)
• Marmot Trestles 15° Synthetic Bag (got this for my husband)
• 2 REDCAMP Nylon Compression Stuff Sack (1 medium, 1 small)
• Self-inflating sleeping pad and foam Z-lite sleeping pad
• 2-32oz. Nalgene bottles
• 6 feet of 550 cord
• Few carabineers
• Small first aid kit (I put it together myself but you can purchase them too)
• Food and snacks for two days (CLIF kid Z-bar did not freeze like my other bars did)
• NUUN “rest” and NUUN “sport” tablets for electrolytes (it’s what plants crave . . . LOL)
• Travel charger for phone
• Camera (a little extra weight but worth it for me)
• ½ of Kelty Salida 2 tent w/ footprint/rainfly etc.
• ½ of snow shovel

My pack weighed in at 31# total. Probably down to half that for the climb from Lunch Counter to the summit.

I will be doing this again and am currently training to do it in one day :)