JGowans Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Adams Trip Report 6/7/03 – 6/8/03 Leejams, Richard Fournier (the French dude), and I set off from Seattle at 5am on Saturday headed for Adams. We drove down I-5, along Hwy 12 to Randle, 25, then 90, and then 23. I hear that 23 is now accessible all the way if you have a high clearance vehicle. We arrived at the Mt. Adams ranger station at 10.30, bought our volcano passes, filled out the climber log, and headed for the trail. We got to Morrison Creek where there were about 30 cars all over the place. We parked at the side of the road a bit past the campground just shy of where a Jeep Cherokee was abandoned in the middle of a 3 ft snow drift. Leaving the campground at 11.15am and 4,700ft, the temperature was in the high ‘80s or even low ‘90s. The 3 miles up to Cold Springs campground was mostly snow free with occasional fallen trees and snowdrifts. I think in another few weeks or so, the road will be open all the way. Once on the trail, there was an easily discernable boot path all the way up to the lunch counter. We arrived at the lunch counter at 9,000 ft. at around 5pm. The sun was shining and we’d been sweating our asses off all the way up. During the hike up, Richard let us know that he’d climbed some of the peaks in Ecuador (+6000m). Adams would prove to be a pushover for him. Even though we saw loads of cars at the trailhead, there didn’t appear to be that many people camping, and we easily scored a good spot. We set up camp, boiled water, drank some of Leejams bourbon (Richard called it bobon or something like that). A friend of mine who’d been climbing with some novices had set off from the Lunch Counter at 8am and was only now returning from the summit at 5pm! He was pissed, and quickly downed a cupful of the bonbon and just as quickly fucked off back to his camp again. He was fairly pissed to say the least. At around 7pm, the wind started to blow, and it became a bit chilly because of that. The temperature was probably still up in the 40s or even 50s, but it was a pretty strong gust. The plan was to get up at 3am, and get going at 4am. Well, I took one peek outside my bivy at 3am, looked up at the stars, felt the wind, and thought fuck that! So, we got going at 5am eventually. The wind was still blowing strong. As Leejams and I set off up the boot path, Richard veered off to the right of the slope ascending with crampons and ski poles. I had my ice-ax and crampons, and Leejams just had his ice-ax. The slope was very hard because of the wind sweeping across it, so crampons were definitely beneficial. We(Leejams and I) got up to Pikers Peak in just under 2 hrs where I could see Richard just approaching the true summit! 45 minutes later, we summited too. So, it took Richard just 2 hrs to ascend the 3,200 ft from camp to the summit. It took Leejams and I 2hrs 45mins. From the top there was a good view of Rainier, Hood, Bachelor, and Mt. Jefferson. Leejams commented that the views were shite compared to what one can see in the North Cascades. Setting back down, Richard and I were able to cruise down the firm slope since we had our crampons on. We even glissaded down the hard surface but that’s probably not advisable since I had to self arrest at least 3 times, ripped a pair of pants, and bruised the hell out of my thigh. Still, we made it back to camp at 9.30am. We took down camp, melted some more snow, and set off at 10.30am. We were back to the car at 1.15pm. As I got back to the car, I could see my trusty Rover bouncing up and down. I thought that was a bit fucking weird. When I got there, there was a big fat bastard called from Bob’s Towing company jacking up my rig while another dude stood on the bed of the tow truck (that was just millimeters away from my rig) shoving it further into the side of the road. When I asked them WTF they were doing, I was told that when they came to tow the Jeep, the sheriff had told them that mine and another bunch of cars were parked illegally. That was bullshit since anyone could easily drive past mine if they needed to (except a fucking 20 ton tow truck). After much sweating, the tow truck was stuck in a drift just ahead of my rig (the same drift the Jeep had been stuck in). As he tried to accelerate through it, the back swung out and crushed the Ford Escort in front of my rig. Totally fucked up. Anyway, we got out of there and back at the Ranger station, we told him what was going on to which we gave me a surprised look and told me we were not parked illegally and didn’t know why Fat Prick Bob was towing rigs from the side of the road. We got out of there and this time headed home via 84. We left at 2.15pm, stopped for lunch, and made it back to Seattle at 7.45pm which even accounted for a 6 mile traffic jam due to some silly bastards crashing their cars just south of Olympia. All in all a good trip. Beware of suspicious towing activities at the trailhead! Images: Richard and Leejams drinking bonbon Leejams on the summit JGowans on the summit Adams panorama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Nice TR Jason. Good story. Great photos! Sorry about your trouble with S. Wash. hicks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjay Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 We also were on Adams this weekend -- what a great couple of days! Took a bit of a different approach, tho. Followed South Spur route for maybe 1/4-1/2 mile then trended east and camped about 2-3 ridges over from S. Spur route. Set up camp at ~7,000'. Got up Sunday a.m. and headed east over to the Mazama Glacier. Nice being over on the unpopulated side of the mtn. -- only two other climbers over there. Found the route in great shape for skinning. No need for the rope, harnesses, crampons, or axes that we brought... Cravasses are large, obvious, and easily avoided. Joined up with the S Spur route about 600' below Piker's Peak (false summit). We didn't get as early a start as JGowans and co. so for us there was no need there for cramps/axe there either. Ski down was fabulous. A bit mushy mid-mtn, but the rest of the ski was Surprisingly good! Mazama route makes for a nice alternative to the popular S Spur, and by camping down low we didn't have to haul our overnight gear up or down much of the mtn. Definitely recommended -- and after July 1 it can be accessed more easily via the reservation (so you don't have to traverse east around the mtn) Bummer about the towing problems at Morrison. Saw that same high-centered Jeep. So much for 4WD getting ya places I think that by next weekend a lot more of the snow on the road should be gone, and if someone went in there with a chain saw they'd easily be able to clear a few fallen small-to-medium trees and drive quite a bit further up the road. Right now there's only one signficant snow patch and a few trees blocking ~1+mile of road... and the gate just above Morrison CG *is* open. Oh, and trail is fully skiable from Cold Creek up. There'll be a few bare patches by next weekend, but most of it should hang in there another 2-3 weeks- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 You talked to a friend of mine at the lunchcounter. Sorry I missed you but I was way too comfy sipping wine and BS'ing with friends. That wind made it hard to get much sleep didnt it? We summited at 10:20 and were back at the car by 1:30. We watched that idiot tow truck driver tring to get his truck unstuck. What an idiot he was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGowans Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 rbw1966 said: You talked to a friend of mine at the lunchcounter. Sorry I missed you but I was way too comfy sipping wine and BS'ing with friends. That wind made it hard to get much sleep didnt it? We summited at 10:20 and were back at the car by 1:30. We watched that idiot tow truck driver tring to get his truck unstuck. What an idiot he was. The wind wasn't too bad on my bivy, but the fellas had a tough time in the tent. Hey, did you guys ski down? We hiked the entire way, and I thought we were moving fairly quickly in leaving Lunch Counter at 10.30am and back to cars at 1.15pm. Yeah, that tow dude was a big useless tub of lard. I felt a bit sorry for him though after all, it was the sheriff that apparently called him out. I can't imagine why they claimed that the cars on the side of the road were parked illegally. Probably just another effort to extract more $$$ from a bunch of tourist 206ers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejams Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Nice trip report JG, a fun weekend indeed. That 1rst picture is you and richard not me. I agree that it wasn't the tow drivers fault but stupid larry the tool sending him up there as with the rig he had could not possibly have got the job done anyhow. That guy had a bad day but not as bad as the climber that owned the escort and finds out his car is caved it when he returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGowans Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 Fixed the pic Lee. Check the link again. Good climbing with you man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejams Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 rbw1966 said: That wind made it hard to get much sleep didnt it? I agree with ya. I had a loose piece of rain fly zing zing all night long. Finally gave up, went out and threw my ski poles on it. I am a firm believer on single wall tents even more now. I am glad we took richard's tent though as mine is quite a bit heavier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braumeister Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Great TR, J--informative, witty, and entertaining. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with the rest of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Skiing out had to have cut our descent time in half I figure--we left the summit at 10:20, got back at the lunch counter and packed up our stuff and were shredding back to the car. It was a lot cooler than trying to hump it out in that heat--and I am a crappy skier. It sucked walking the road in our boots but I figure we cut at least an hour or two off our time by skiing back. We must have just missed you. We had crashed in my megamid. When it got windy I wished I had staked it out better. It didn't collapse or anything but it was so loose it was flapping most of the night. We watched the fat guys buddy shoveling dirt under his tires to get him unstuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Karen Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Hey we were in the green MEC tent right near you guys. We left Vancouver BC Friday night & drove through the night - we got a total of two hours 'rest' at a pullout in the gorge. Started from Morrison Creek about 9:30 and reach Cold Springs in just over an hour. Road was mostly snow free except for the last mile. We were really bagged & didn't make good time up to the Lunch Counter - took us five hours! The ranger insisted we needed snowshoes on the approach but we didn't bother taking them - good idea since the snow was pretty firm until noon. Postholed a lot around the Lunch Counter - especially around the rocks - but that's to be expected. Views really sucked Saturday - there was a major haze happening and Hood was practically invisible - MSH wasn't much better. However it made for a grand sunset - lots of colour. Wind picked up that night but it was a good thing - beautiful clear sunrise. Started up at 6am, around 7am a thin black haze started to form around the 9000ft level but it eventually dispersed and we had superb views all day - Jefferson was visible and you could make out the Sisters as well. Reached the top of Piker's Peak just after eight and the true Summit around 9:30. Views of Ranier were fantabulos! Soon afterwards a steady stream of climbers joined us - but their company was welcome - we need all the nature lovers we can get. Those that wanted the view to themselves summited early however they denied themselves with the greatest thrill of all - the glissade back down Piker's Peak. We slid down about 11 o'clock and conditions were ideal. Not so icy that you bruise your backside and not so slushy that you wind up soaked. 2000ft in about 10 minutes - priceless! After a miserable stretch of postholing across the Lunch Counter we packed up the tent at 12:30 and reach our pick-up at three. 9.5hrs up/5 down. If anyone wants to check out any of our pictures they are up on our site at the link below. http://groups.msn.com/davidkarenshikingpage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeadam Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 I was wondering if that tow truck was going to haul out the jeep. Thanks for the info. Great skiing up there BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejams Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Yeah that is what the tool sent him up there for. But retarded as the jeep was in the center of the road and this guy had one of those ramp towtrucks. But when the tow guy got all the way up there and stuck the jeep had done gone. Which is when the tow guy slid into the little blue car and creamed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 Nice trip report, Gowans. C'est tres bon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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