Mt. Adams

"Forget Rainier, let's go do Adams - we can even get a ride in on the way down." That was Aaron's comment Saturday morning as we looked at the forecast for Mt. Rainier: 40 mile an hour average wind speed on the summit. That, combined with the general unpleasantness of a long slog in with a heavy pack made the decision quite easy.


Mt. Adams is the much more accessible peak to the south, coming in at 12,200'. The west face provides two excellent skiing lines: the popular SW Chutes and the less travelled Avalanche Glacier.



The "ride" was a 3-hour mountain bike ride at Little Baldy in the Naches, which we did Saturday before driving to Hood River for dinner - finally making it to the Cold Springs campground at about 11:3o pm.

We started out from camp at a leisurely 8am, and made the summit by 3pm. We were able to skin almost the entire way - starting just after we reached snow about 2 miles from camp.

This is the view of the mountain as you hit the snowline on the South Summit trail.



It was a gorgeous day for skinning; bright sun and t-shirts only required. We went left of the main trail, and were able to stay on snow and take a more direct route than we would have otherwise.






Once at the summit the wind had picked up to about 20mph, and while not bad, it was enough to keep us moving. We dropped into the gap between the summit and the northern peak, and had about 2,000' of perfect corn at a nice 35-40 degree slope.














Once off the steeper section we ended beneath the SW chutes, found the Around the Mountain trail at 6,200', and walked out by 6pm. All in all a fantastic day.

The first photo below shows the route, the second is a close-up of the main ski run.

Devil's Gulch and Little Bald Mountain

Devil's Gulch, the best mountain bike ride in Washington, continues to deliver the goods this summer. The road to the main parking area is still washed out, so you have to go to the base of the Red Devil trail (past the crazy guy's collection of cars, dogs and garbage). We started on the Red Devil trail for a little 1000' warm up, then up the road 13 miles to the start of the trail proper. It was a perfect 75 degree Saturday and although we didn't start until about 3:00, there was plenty of light and it cooled as we climbed up. The trail has been well maintained and improved in the lower section, where it was deteriorating on the steep hillside.

Sunday we drove to Naches and the Little Bald Mountain ride. We parked near the Sawmill Flat campground (Hwy 410, Milepost 91), and rode up road 7106 to the trail (196?). A bit rocky to start, then some ridge riding, but some of the fastest, smoothest downhill rewards you at sections near the top and bottom. A cloudy day with the temp about 70, but dry and fast. Great views as you descend the ridge on the trail.