A couple of months back I posted a query regarding places I might go for a 3 day backpack with my buddy Noel, who was visiting from DC. The criteria I posted included big alpine views, swimmable lakes and no mosquitoes. I got a number of suggestions (thanks to all who replied!), and decided to act on Allison's suggestion for exploring the west side of Mt
Adams. Yes, I know, there are no swimmable lakes on the west side of Mt
Adams, but after we heard the forecast for the weekend - mid 60s on Friday, going down to high of mid-40s on Sunday - we decided to scratch that criterion.
Thursday night we left Portland, and ended up camping at what I think is called Killen Creek campground, just a quarter mile or so past the Killen Creek trailhead. Along the way, we stopped for a photo-op of Mt
Adams reflected in Takhlakh Lake.
- View of Mt Adams reflected in Takhlakh Lake
On Friday morning we hiked the mis-named Killen Creek trail 3 miles or so to the junction with the PCT. The trail was dry and dusty, with most wildflowers in seed and not many huckleberries ripe. It is steep in spurts, but I think most backpackers would have no trouble making it that far. For most of the trail, we didn't see any bugs, but as we approached what I think is called
Adams Creek Meadows, at about 2.5 miles, we started seeing mosquitoes. As a result we decided not to camp at PCT elevation (~6000'), but rather to go up higher.
So we took the marked trail to High Camp, 6500'. This trail was MUCH steeper than the Killen Creek trail, and required crossing some talus/rock slopes. While it was not super difficult, beginning backpackers and those with kids might want to reconsider bringing full packs up. (We did see families with day packs.)
I had read in a guidebook that High Camp is super-crowded on August weekends, so we were expecting a lot of company. But for whatever reason, when we arrived in High Camp we seemed to have it to ourselves. (Later that day we saw a tent about a quarter mile away which belonged to the ranger, and we also saw two other parties up there on Friday night, both of whom left Saturday due to incoming weather.) We got a primo camping spot, with great views of Mt
Adams and the
Adams Glacier above us, and of Mt Rainier and the Goat Rocks to the north.
- Ground squirrels on cairn at entry to High Camp meadows
After putting down our packs, we continued heading west/up towards the mountain. We climbed mostly snowfields to a lake that sits in the moraines below the
Adams Glacier, at about 7500'. The sun was shining, but the ice floating in the lake discouraged a swim. (We heard from the ranger that a group of students from Lewis and Clark had no such misgivings. Brrr!) Later in the afternoon we climbed further up the snowfields, to about 8000', but we then just retraced our steps back to camp.
- That's me at the lake, looking up at the Adams Glacier
As we arrived at camp, Noel tapped me on the shoulder and pointed. "What's that?" he asked. "
Goats!!" I replied. The wildlife gods were smiling on us that night, as a herd of 25-30
goats came down off the moraines to graze in the meadows just south of our camp. We walked over in their general direction, coming within about 100 feet, and spent well over an hour watching them eat and frolic in the meadow. As time went on, many of the
goats came even closer, perhaps within 50 feet.
- I believe the goats spend their days and nights in the high country on the upper moraines, coming down to feed in the early evening
- A goat with two bodies??
- These goats were probably no more than 50 feet away
It was pure magic, one of the top wildlife experiences of my whole life. When I asked the ranger about it the next day, he said there were often goat sitings on this part of
Adams, but they have a very large range, and you could never know where they would choose to graze. Sure enough, on Saturday night we saw them descending the moraines, but to meadows in a different drainage.
The temperature dropped on Friday night, and I saw a really cool phenomenon when I went to get water on Saturday morning. Since Friday had been warm and sunny, the stream which runs through the High Camp area had pretty good water flow. But with temperatures dropping below freezing, the surface of the stream froze overnight, creating a layer of ice. Also that night, the water flow dropped as well. As a result, I found large, thin sheets of ice suspended 3 inches above the stream. Very cool!
- Hard to tell from the photo, but the ice sheet here is 18" wide and 6' long
Later that morning, we headed cross-country from High Camp to the spot where
Adams Creek crosses the PCT. Along the way, we wanted to check out a spot where a snow field was breaking apart into large chunks. In the meadows, we found lots of tufts of goat hair. I was surprised that the
goats are molting now, as I would expect them to be needing their winter coats pretty soon.
After crossing
Adams Creek on logs and rocks, we hiked the PCT south for a few miles through forest, meadow and lava. There were flowers in the meadows, but there were also mosquitoes whenever we stopped. So eventually we decided to head back up into the high country, climbing moraines and snow fields above the headwaters of the Lewis River towards the base of the
Adams Glacier. The area up there is beautiful; I wish we'd gone there straight-away, rather than hiking the PCT. Ultimately, we didn't get too close to the glacier, as we heard avalanche/rock fall rumblings all weekend (though we never did see either) and wanted to be safe.
Saturday evening back at camp we watched the weather roll in. Bands of thick white clouds blew in from the southwest as the sun was setting. First it passed north of us, filling the valleys between
Adams and the Goat Rocks, but shortly after sunset, we too were engulfed in clouds. Sunday morning we were socked in, with only occasional breaks to see the mountain. The clouds had a lot of moisture, though at that point it was more mist than rain. We eventually climbed out of our sleeping bags, ate breakfast, and broke camp. On the way down, we decided to go off-trail to the north, heading towards the spot where Killen Creek crosses the PCT. After a while we found a faint trail that led us through some meadows, and eventually the trail became more pronounced as it took us past a nice waterfall just above the PCT. But that time it was raining pretty steadily, so we headed along the PCT to the junction with the Killen Creek trail, and descended to our car. The car thermometer said the air temperature at 4600' was 46 degrees; it was nice to change into dry clothes and reminisce about our trip on the ride home.
- Mt Adams from our camp at High Camp on Friday night
