September 19-21, 2003
By Brent McGregor
Climbing Mt. Adams would link together my Cascade climbs comprising the fifteen major volcanoes from Mt. Shasta to Mt. Rainier. The rime ice atop Mt. Jefferson kept me shy of the last few hundred feet of the summit, and a storm on Rainier turned me back at the base of Liberty Ridge. But I had the good fortune of summiting the other 13 mountains. I wanted to create a more interesting route on Mt. Adams than the traditional South Spur Route. By linking the North Clever and South Spur route, I would see much more of the mountain and create a more interesting adventure.
I locked my Mtn. Bike to a tree hidden in the woods near the trail head of the South Spur route, along with spare food, water, and clothes. Next I drove to the Killen Creek Trail head. My plan was to hike in to High Camp that evening. The North side of Adams is much more isolated than the South. There was a total of six climbers on the North side of the mountain, and somewhere between 100-200 coming up from the South the day of my climb. The North is also very beautiful. Big views from camp minus the lights of towns to the East or West. I found myself setting up camp well above High Camp, settling in on the ridge I would climb the next day. My route is in blue.
The most interesting part of the climb was finding my way up the ridge. I was the first one on the route since snow storms earlier that week had covered tracks and parts of the trail. There was enough exposure to keep it fun, and between the loose scree sections there were several great hand holds along the rock walls of the ridge I followed up.
Most mountains seem to hold their steepest parts of the climb for the last 500 or 1,000 feet beneath the summit. The last mile or so of the North Clever route is almost level. There was a section of sun cupped snow just before the summit that took some fancy walking to get through.
I reached the summit in 4 hrs. and 12 minutes. There was no one around so I rested on the sheltered side of the framed cabin near the summit.
Soon a climber from France joined me from the North side, and a climber from Poland joined us from the South side. We ate lunch together, swapped stories, and watched the climbing parties approaching from the south. An hour later my fingers were getting cold even though I was wearing winter mittens and used handwarmers. I decided to continue on and trudged down the endless scree slopes of the South Spur route. Although this was a solo climb, I spent little time alone on the mountain. I hiked with different people from time to time, visited with the climbing ranger for nearly an hour, and found Mt. Adams to be a highly traveled mountain. At Cold Springs Camp, I found my bike and provisions and made camp.
To bike from Cold Springs to Killen Creek Camp requires traveling a series of gravel and paved roads covering some 32 to 35 miles, with a few long uphills thrown in, I was assured I would burn any body fat left over from the climb. About half way around the mountain I saw a helicopter landing near “Lunch Counter” on the South route. I found out later that an 18 year old girl was hit by a large boulder dislodged from the False Summit, gaining distance and speed before hitting her. I hope she made it.
My entire camp was carried with me over the mountain. This was not a problem since I took a very light down bag, bivy sack and used the foam pad that came with my pack. I eliminated a stove, cook pot and kitchen goods. Sleeping in all my layers of clothes, allowed me to take my lightest bag. I had a great time, met lots of wonderful people, and have plans to return and try other routes.
Brent McGregor, Cascades Mountaineers
