After getting our permits, we just drove the 12 or so miles from Trout Lake up to Cold Springs campground on the southern flanks of Mount Adams, and arrived there a bit after 9pm. The place was filling up fast and it was getting dark, so we snagged the first pull-out we could slide the Subaru into, and quickly setup a couple of tents then walked around a bit to find the trailhead.
When we returned to the site, the buttheads across from us had started a roaring bonfire. Totally unbelievable! These woods were already burnt up pretty well, and just tinder dry. There was some music wafting up from a few sites away. Total party atmosphere. We planned to set alarms for 3am, so decided to just make the best of it and try to crash. Amazingly, a "quiet hour" of sorts descended across the campground around, maybe, 10:30 or so. I think I slept maybe 2-3 hours? I dunno.
After stowing all our overnight gear away, and enjoying a quick breakfast, we were on the trail at 4am! It was a "brisk" 51°F out. Way too warm for a fleece, although the calm air in the woods made one feel good before we really started moving. The campground is at 5700'. The summit is 12,267'. A year ago, it would've been an impossible dream for me to even consider what we were about to undertake.
Roughly 11:30am. Highest I'd ever been, under my own power. Oh yeah!
We walked the first couple miles in the dark, then experienced a multispectral, pastel-infused sunrise. I'm sure the colors were "enhanced" by the Mile Marker 28 fire over on US97. It was hard to keep moving forward, while the light show was going on behind us to the south.
4:05am at the trailhead - obligatory TFF shot.
By 5:15am, we can see pretty well where we're going.
First direct light on Hood around 5:45am.
It quickly became clear that the air wasn't anymore. Fire season seems to be in full swing.
But the smoke certainly offered a bit more color to the classic shadow shots.
We ran into one rather steep snowfield early on, and this was the only place that actually required hands-on scrambling.
(photo: Peder)
Rounding a corner at 7800', Mt St Helens came nicely into view!
We passed a little tent-city at about 8000'. Seemed a lot of their occupants had already headed up!
Did you know MSH and Adams are only 31 miles apart?
By 8300', we were on snow and would be for the rest of the climb. No traction needed yet.
Distances on this mountain are impossibly deceptive. Peder was better at it than me, trying to gauge by the height of people that were barely visible. In the shot above, the bright point is known as Piker's Peak, and is falsely seen as the summit by many on their way up. As close as it always appeared, it just never seemed to get much closer. We were just below the lunch counter, and Piker's Peak is actually about 3500' higher than where we were. This is where we decided to traction up. I was going with microSpikes, and Peder had crampons. Certainly his choice was far more versatile, and would've worked in conditions which we, thankfully, didn't experience this day. The microspikes ended up working just fine, although as the snow softened I did have a few doubts along the way.
Does that look 3500' higher? If you download the Original, you might seem some tiny people up there.
I guess I just sorta put it into low gear, and motored up from this point onward. The lack of sleep didn't seem to be an issue.
(photo: Peder)
The bugs on the mountain were fascinating! Here's a little spider at 8900'! Lots of bees flying around, too.
Peder climbing through the Lunch Counter area at around 9000'.
Some campers with a killer view of Mount Saint Helens from the Lunch Counter.
The "Mile Marker 28 Fire" over on Satus Pass was billowing to our east.
Some people, inexplicably, followed the glissade runs straight up the mountain. I tended to switchback and forth against the fallline.
(photo: Peder)
How many little people do you see? There are more. They are really little!
We each really set our own paces going up Piker's Peak. It's a workout! But it just takes persistence.
Another crazy bug at 10,200'!
We seemed to parallel this father-daughter duo much of the day. I liked the nearly full moon over them, here.
At 9:30am, making the final push to the crest of Piker's Peak!
There was one poor guy waiting for his brother to come down from the summit. He'd rented the plastic "mountaineering" boots from REI, and they'd (of course?) been sheer hell on his feet, causing blisters bad enough he couldn't continue. I had been leery of their advice to do this, too, despite many folks saying the microspikes may not get me there. Just wasn't sure the plastic boots would, either! Anyway, that was a bummer to see.
At 11,500', we're now looking down on Mt Hood, and getting our first good look at the actual summit.
There's a steady parade of folks heading up, and a few already coming down. They don't look as small, anymore!
I set off pretty quickly, as the snow had been softening below Piker's Peak. Up here, not so much!
(photo: Peder)
This trench was really bizarre. It didn't last long, but, well, ... , weird!
On the final climb to the summit, the snow became deeply etched in a most interesting way. I hadn't seen this, to this degree, before.
Those pits are 2-3' deep!
But there was something of a trail carved through them in many places.
Summit!
Finally! The summit! And what's left of an old fire lookout that was used only briefly in the 1920s.
This is a "new world record" for my GPS, smashing the old one by nearly 2000'!
I thought someone had left their stuff here, but this turned out to be a memorial of some sort.
Googling didn't help shed any light on it, though. Is there a story here?
The views were pretty awesome. Here's Goat Rocks in the foreground, and Glacier Peak and the North Cascades behind.
Glacier Peak
The Big Picture, with Mount Rainier in center.
(photo: Peder)
After awhile by the lookout, we wandered over to what we assumed to be the actual summit?
TFF victory shot. Not sure this spot is more than a foot higher than the other (in background).
We had a bit of lunch up there. The day was really nice! We'd been warned all the way up about how windy it was, but I'm pretty sure neither of us really felt that way about it. It was over 50°F, and really quite pleasant. I decided to wander east and loop the rim, before descending on what appeared to be an alternate way down. Peder was keen to try out his fancy new sled material on the glissade path.
Mount Rainier, poking over the summit as I start down the east side.
I think this is the Big Muddy Creek drainage? Raging forest fire in distance.
Little Mount Adams
Absolutely awesome pinnacle display! (Battlement Ridge? The Spearhead? Help!)
Yes, if you wanted to haul your gear up here, you too can bivy at over 12k'!
Peder, meanwhile, is pursuing the thrill of speed!
Yeeeeee-haw!
I was catching a very strong sulfur aroma as I peered over this edge!
Yes, there are glaciers with crevasses on this mountain!
Heading back down towards Piker's Peak, where a crowd seems to be assembling.
Descending was a mix, some folks glissading, and others just plunge stepping on down.
Me, dropping down over the edge of Piker's Peak, to film...
(photo: Peder)
The rest of the descent was pretty uneventful. We just went down, down, down, sliding and boot-skiing.
We did hit one more somewhat steep section right before the end of the snow. Took some serious deep heels to stay upright here!
Me, happily following in Peder's footsteps! (photo: Peder)
Back down to 7500', nearly 12 hours after starting, it's time to strip down to summer clothes again! No more snow.
We're also back amongst the photosynthesizers, which are busy putting on a show!
Took me awhile to get my land legs back. I seemed to want to glissade down the rocks! Heh...
(photo: Peder)
We still had 2.5 miles to go, through a mostly burnt forest, on sand and rocks. This part was just fine in the dark.
Truly weird thing is, we'd passed this sign exactly 12 hours - to the minute - ago!
And, well, that's about it. We got back down to the car about 6:00pm. Packed up pretty quick, and skedaddled on home. What a day! Just amazing.
Right-click, view-image, for full-sized map.
Something for the data-geeks in the crowd.
http://gpsfly.org/gps_map.php?gps_id=2669&w=645&h=440
A year ago, an impossible dream! Life is Good.
) We didn't come up with any solid ideas on the Next Big Thing on the way down, I hate to say. Some mysteries are good. 
