Mount Adams Highline, Mount Adams South Climb — Saturday, Jul. 13, 2024

Conducted a summit and and counterclockwise circumnavigation of Mt. Adams in one push. Long day! (28hrs)

The climb:

Took 5 hours up. 3 hours down. Snow fields, in earnest, start around 7k ft. Always, always bring an ice axe and crampons (or microspikes). A lot of people underestimate Adams, but there are some steeper sections that would be very consequential without this gear. Most of the camp sites at lunch counter have melted out and we saw folks there on our way up. Snow was firm because we were ascending in the dark, but softened up in the sun. If you’re looking for ski turns on the summit, there are sun cups, so be prepared. I imagine pikers face is okay in the sun as well, however we did not have skis this time around. Pretty much everyone is climbing the main, western, “summer” route at this point. A beautiful morning up my favorite mountain.

The circumnavigation:

After descending the route we came upon our cached gear at Timberline. Started at the timberline camp at 9:00am and went counter-clockwise, starting with “the gap.” This an approx. 9 mile portion completely off trail and through 4 major terrain features: Iceberg Lake, Klickitat Glacier, Battlement Ridge, and The Spearhead. It took us approx. 10 hours to do this.

Iceberg Lake: you don’t cross this, but getting here requires about 1.5k in climbing and is an obvious landmark. Once here, you can see where you will hop onto the Klickitat.

Klickitat Glacier: one of the most stunning views I’ve seen in mountains. The eastern portion of Adams is breathtaking. I would highly recommend anyone who has summitted Adams already to forego a second summit, and spend a day (or night) in this zone. Holy cow. Though a glacier, we only saw a very small portion with cracks opening up. We did not carry any glacier crossing equipment and I would not suggest you need it either.

Battlement Ridge: three large humps of glacial moraine/scree fields. If you’ve never felt what it’s like climbing this sort of terrain, you essentially gain two feet and lose one with every step. Large, loose rocks you can’t trust, etc. It is quite physically taxing.

The Spearhead: this is far and away the hardest portion of the gap. The down climb from Spearhead proved to be slow going, difficult and at times consequential. Be prepared to lose your footing on this and take your time.

Overall the gap, though rugged and requiring trail finding experience, is one of the most beautiful places I have been. Nobody around. No footprints. Huge country.

Adams Highline trail: having done Adams a few times now, when I return here again I want to spend more time in the northern zone. If anyone is reading this, and isn’t necessarily sold on wanting to summit for another time, etc, I would recommend you check out the northern portion of the high line trail. This zone brought stunning views of Adams, plenty of water, and we did not see a single person on a perfect, July day out here. The western portion of the trail was mostly in the trees (though still great) and was comparatively the least enjoyable of the entire trail, so far as views and terrain goes. It has tons of bugs and many water crossings to navigate.

Final thoughts: We were getting annihilated by bugs on the western portion and asked a man from Denmark for some bug spray, who happily assisted us. Those bugs were hands down some of the worst I’ve experienced in a while. I was too exhausted and forgot your name, but thank you!!!

Lucky to be here and able to enjoy this awesome place with good buds.