CRAZY BOB
New member
Trip Details
Date: Monday, August 23, 2010
Mountain: Mt. Adams (Eastern Cascades)
Elevation: 12,276 ft
Trail: South Spur Route
Distance: 10.4 miles w/ 6,676 elevation gain
Climbers: Crazy Bob, Jorge Paz, Dana Seguin and Gladys
After I wake up Saturday morning, drive to Manchester airport to meet Dana, catch a plane to Seattle, sleep a few hours, drive to Hood River, sleep a few more hours, wake up in the wee hours Monday morning, Dana and I can finally start our first hike in the Pacific Northwest. At 8:30am sharp we start up the south spur trail to the summit of Adams. With 10.4 miles and 6,676 elevation gain this will be a piece of cake since my last hike was the Zealand-Bonds traverse at 19.5 miles (East coast hiker mistake #1). The trail starts at Cold Spring campground at an elevation of 5,600 ft with smooth terrain and a well marked trail. At approximately 2 miles the terrain changed to volcanic scree. Luckily the scree was short lived and the terrain changed to snow. Halfway up our first steep section Jorge was at the top and Dana and I decided crampons would be a lot better than the one foot forward and two steps back approach we were using. At 9,250 we stopped for lunch at the appropriately named “Lunch Counter”. We decided it was time to let Gladys (pink flamingo) out of my pack and let her get some sun. At this time a climber and his teenage son walked by and wanted to know the reason behind the flamingo and we had no good answer other than we are from the east coast and boys will be boys. The father laughed and asked if we would mind him taking a photo of Gladys. We were happy to oblige. After lunch Jorge and I proceeded up the next snow field to Piker’s Peak (false summit) at 11,657. The final push to the true summit required us to drop a few feet (pud) and climb a few hundred feet to the top. The summit was absolutely beautiful with views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Rainier. Jorge, Gladys and I spent almost an hour on the summit soaking it all in. We quickly made it back to Piker’s Peak for the 2000 foot glissade back to Lunch Counter with the biggest smile you could imagine. The only training needed for this glissade is proper ice ax control and spending time at water parks. It was the most fun I had in a long time. We headed back down to the trailhead. We decided to head back to Hood River for beers and burgers and to put Gladys to bed for the night. Luckily, Jorge gave me a few tips that made this climb a lot easier. Some of the more important tips was to slow down and as you go higher start using rest steps and pressure breathing. The next day we head to Rainier and do it all over again.
Link to Pictures:http://community.webshots.com/album/578575667UEYBql?vhost=community&start=24
Date: Monday, August 23, 2010
Mountain: Mt. Adams (Eastern Cascades)
Elevation: 12,276 ft
Trail: South Spur Route
Distance: 10.4 miles w/ 6,676 elevation gain
Climbers: Crazy Bob, Jorge Paz, Dana Seguin and Gladys
After I wake up Saturday morning, drive to Manchester airport to meet Dana, catch a plane to Seattle, sleep a few hours, drive to Hood River, sleep a few more hours, wake up in the wee hours Monday morning, Dana and I can finally start our first hike in the Pacific Northwest. At 8:30am sharp we start up the south spur trail to the summit of Adams. With 10.4 miles and 6,676 elevation gain this will be a piece of cake since my last hike was the Zealand-Bonds traverse at 19.5 miles (East coast hiker mistake #1). The trail starts at Cold Spring campground at an elevation of 5,600 ft with smooth terrain and a well marked trail. At approximately 2 miles the terrain changed to volcanic scree. Luckily the scree was short lived and the terrain changed to snow. Halfway up our first steep section Jorge was at the top and Dana and I decided crampons would be a lot better than the one foot forward and two steps back approach we were using. At 9,250 we stopped for lunch at the appropriately named “Lunch Counter”. We decided it was time to let Gladys (pink flamingo) out of my pack and let her get some sun. At this time a climber and his teenage son walked by and wanted to know the reason behind the flamingo and we had no good answer other than we are from the east coast and boys will be boys. The father laughed and asked if we would mind him taking a photo of Gladys. We were happy to oblige. After lunch Jorge and I proceeded up the next snow field to Piker’s Peak (false summit) at 11,657. The final push to the true summit required us to drop a few feet (pud) and climb a few hundred feet to the top. The summit was absolutely beautiful with views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Rainier. Jorge, Gladys and I spent almost an hour on the summit soaking it all in. We quickly made it back to Piker’s Peak for the 2000 foot glissade back to Lunch Counter with the biggest smile you could imagine. The only training needed for this glissade is proper ice ax control and spending time at water parks. It was the most fun I had in a long time. We headed back down to the trailhead. We decided to head back to Hood River for beers and burgers and to put Gladys to bed for the night. Luckily, Jorge gave me a few tips that made this climb a lot easier. Some of the more important tips was to slow down and as you go higher start using rest steps and pressure breathing. The next day we head to Rainier and do it all over again.
Link to Pictures:http://community.webshots.com/album/578575667UEYBql?vhost=community&start=24
Last edited:
Good to see Gladys survived out 48th trip and is venturing on to new territory.....
