Didgie Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Read this if you're doing Adams for the first time and would like to know what you're getting yourself into! The last few miles of the road to the TH are gravel, but it's a good road, no problem for most cars. Just go slow as it's narrow. The hike in is a good trail until below the Crescent Glacier. There it becomes a bit of a rocky/talus-y climbers trail with a 30-ft low angle section of snow. It's very sunny and HOT. You hit snow about 1000ft below the lunch counter. Again, rather slushy and not steep. No crampons/axe required for the hike in. The campsites at the lunch counter are snow free. There are lots of spots with already built rock walls to shelter you from the wind :-). There is running water as well. Hike time to LC was 3hrs 15min. On climbday you get onto the snow 10min out of camp. I put on crampons, although some people did the whole thing without. The snow was pretty hard, and I just liked the security of knowing that I won't slip as it's already a lot of work getting up to that dang false summit... which isn't so bad as long as you are mentally prepared that it's there. Right at the false summit are a few rocks that provide some shelter from the wind, a great spot to grab a snack and layer up for the summit. The summit looks super far away, but really it isn't that bad. It took me 2hrs to the false summit, 15min break, 45min more to the true summit. The hut on the summit was starting to peek out of the snow, but the door wasn't accessible yet. There was some shelter from the wind behind it, though. No super steep or icy bits, I did everything with 1 axe and 1 pole, could have done it with 2 poles (but you need the axe for the glissade). The snow was still pretty hard when I went down, so I had to hike a bit below the false summit before I could start the glissade. Still GREAT FUN!!! And a frozen solid butt-cicle at the bottom... I didn't use my glissade device, as with the hard snow it would have been too fast. But lower down it was great to have. I took a 30min, butt-thawing nap at camp before hiking out. Easy hike back to the car. Hiking in it was hot and sunny. The climbers coming down said the snow from the summit had been in glissading shape by 9am. When I got to LC the winds started picking up and clouds moved in. Overnight temps were in the upper 30s with consistent wind of ~15mph and some raindrops. When I woke up at 4am it looked really gray, so I slept in a while longer. By 5am it looked more appealing, so I finally started hiking at 5:30. The wind never let up and got stronger as I went higher. On the summit ridge I measured 32F and 25mph sustained winds, brr! So it was quite a bit colder than the day before. The sun came out as I went down and softened things. I was already thinking, rats, I should have slept in longer and climbed later! But then, on the way out, I turned around and looked at the mountain - dang! The summit was surrounded by a huge broiling dark lenticular cloud! Guess I lucked out with my timing! Gear notes: I took my 40L pack, 30lbs including 3L of water and food. Items brought: Clothes: Waterproof boots, gaiters, 2 pairs of socks + liners, schoeller pants, polypro t-shirt, smartwool long-sleeve shirt, softshell jacket, micropuff jacket, precip pants, paclite gore-tex jacket, buff (thin hat), baseball cap, windstopper liner gloves, overmitts (with handwarmers for the summit = lighter and smaller than an extra pair of thick gloves). I wore everything on the summit! Just right. Camp gear: BD lightsabre bivy (1lb 4oz), InsulMat, 40F synthetic bag (1lb 8oz, this was a gamble that paid off! I was super toasty), silk liner bag, water filter, jetboil, prayer flags, small book, ipod, toiletries. EARPLUGS!! I also wore these on summit day all the way to the top. Wind wears me out big time, the noise, how the inside of my ears gets cold... Sometimes even hats don't work for me. Therse did, like a charm :-) Big plastic bag to cover pack overnight and store bivy gear while climbing. 2 blue bags + TP. 10E's Food, spork Light crampons, poles, ax, I didn't take a helmet. Glissade device. Brought a foam pad but didn't use it except for the nap in camp. Other unneccessary items: none :-). Potentially nice items to have but not neccessary: long johns, warmer hat, warmer gloves, camp shoes, camera (I didn't bring one). Oh and one necessary item I forgot: a coffee filter to put around the intake of my water filter as the water coming off the snow is very silty and will clog your filter. I hope this helps! Have a great time on the mountain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kweb Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Nice TR. Thanks Didgie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizard_brain Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I was there on the same day... Equipment note: I've done it a few times before. I always bring a book for when I'm sitting around the Lunch Counter the afternoon/evening before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyside_up Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Spot on about the snow being in good shape around 9am. The glissades are wonderful right now. I don't know if I was dreaming or if I actually went through a field of about a million butterflies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Guy Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Great TR - I'm hoping to hike Adams soon, thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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