Trip Report: Mount Adams and Mount Hood, June 30 to July 3, 2011
No better way to celebrate Canada Day and the 4th of July then climbing two volcanoes – and that’s exactly what we did! 
We decided to get a head start and leave Vancouver on Wednesday evening June 29. We made a dash to Seattle, so we could get an early start down to Mt. Adams the next day. Approx a 4 hr drive from Seattle, we eventually arrived at the Mt. Adams trailhead for the South Spur (normal) route (actually it was about 3 miles from the trailhead due to an unusual late season and lots of fallen trees blocking the trail, which added an extra hour or so of hiking time!).
Hiking up for about 3 hrs, we decided to camp around 7,500 feet as it was getting late. 5 am the next morning, July 1st, we were up and started our long slog up Adams. Funny enough we actually took the ‘winter’ route, east of the glacier due to the unbelievable amount of snow! Nonetheless, six hours later, we were standing on the summit at 12,276 feet – not a cloud in the sky, we had amazing views of Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood. Blitzing our way back to camp, we arrived just as the snow was starting to soften which made for easier travel. After a little rest, we packed up and left camp at 3 pm and were enjoying some cold beers a couple hrs later.
Gear used: poles, crampons and ice axe - we didn't need our snowshoes
Note to all dog lovers: think twice before brining your dogs: until about 11 am, the snow was as sharp as glass and a dog that was part of a team that had an early alpine start, had cut open all its paws on the way down - barly able to make it off the icy slopes, the poor creature left a long trail of blood behind.
With our first objective complete, we drove down via Hood River to Mt. Hood, and stayed in a little motel just outside of Government Camp (yes this is officially the name of a town) on Saturday July 2 to rest for a few hours before getting up at midnight to prepare for our next climb. We hit the slopes of Hood at 1:30 am on Sunday July 3, climbing via the South side (Hogsback) route. It actually was a bit annoying for the first couple hours as we hiked in the dark, with only the incessant beeping and bright lights of the grooming machines to keep us company. Tip: make sure to keep well on the right of the climber's path (right of the ski lift) as the grooming machines will pass at least a couple times.
During the firs three hours up, there were about 10 discouraged climbers coming down - obviously underestimating the challenge of the climb and giving up on the first half - many with inadequate gear I might add. Because of Hood's accessibility from Timberline Lodge, this is apparently a frequent occurance.
Eventually we were away from the slopes at approx 8,000 feet, and were on our way to the summit. The winds were very strong and while the conditions were very icy, it made for good travel as our crampons were biting in. We opted not to take the standard ‘Hogsback’ ridge as there was a major shrund opening up beneath the ‘Pearly Gates’, and it looked a little precarious. So we traveled around west of the Hogsback, and eventually found ourselves on the thin summit ridge. A short beautiful climb along the summit ridge soon took us to the summit, and six hours from the Timberline Lodge we were up! Despite what we had been told about the enormous traffic on Mt. Hood, it was relatively acceptable (most likely due to the forecast of clouds and high winds) with only about three other teams on the summit with us at the same time - nonetheless, more climbers were coming up after us, which made for a slow descent off the summit.
Aside from the snow groomers, Hood was a particularly fun climb – in fact it reminded me a bit of the Coleman route on Baker. While there was not really any risk of crevasses on the route, nearly all parties (including us) decided to rope up due to the conditions and steepness of the ice.
Gear used: poles, crampons, ice axe, helmets, harness and short rope
~13,000 vertical feet climbed and over 40 km covered, two volcanoes, excellent weather and some great company made for an awesome weekend!
