lgoodson - Jun 2, 2024 1:19 pm Date Climbed: May 30, 2024
Mount Adams South Spur/Lunch Counter Camping
We summited Adams early Friday morning after camping at Lunch Counter overnight on Thursday May 30th, 2024.
The week leading up to the attempt was cold and consistent, windy 25-30mph and dying down with some dusting of new snow. Maybe the second or third round of early season corn cycle. With a break in the wind and clear skies, high cloud ceiling, and around freezing at mid to high elevations, we saw a two day window to make a go at it before another storm system moved in. Temps 15-20*F at the top, 20-30*F at 9000 feet, 40s at 6000 feet; little wind 5-10 mph; all sun.
Checked the Forest Service report describing a 1 mile snowy hike in to the trail head, but just two days after its posting the snow is mostly melted out. Some cars were getting stuck but by now I think the road is clear. I recommend a car with decent clearance for the forest road speed bumps. Camp spots might still be snowy at Cold Springs. Outhouses are open.
We packed up and put our skins on and started Thursday afternoon around 2PM in 8-12*C (45-55*F) temps. First mile or so from the campground has thinning but enough snow, some trees down to climb over. Afternoon slush was a little hard going but still manageable. We met a forest ranger who checked our permits- be sure to have them loaded on your phone or printed! They do check!
Got to Lunch Counter just after 6PM, with enough time to find a campsite and plenty of space mid week. About 4-5 parties camped at the top all in all.
Started up Friday morning at 7AM and the ice rime up to Pikers Peak made skinning really tough. We changed to boots and crampons and put the skis on our packs. One or two people valiantly got further up with skis on but it was challenging to traverse, and most everyone with skis transitioned to crampons. At moments I would have liked to have an ice ax instead of ski poles but it was fine.
Summited around 10AM after a slog to the top, boot packing the whole way because of how steep and crusty the snow was. The views were incredible, seeing out to Three Sisters down south and Baker up north.
(Unfortunately, my partner's ski popped off just over the edge of Piker's Peak and went CAREENING down the chute right of SW Chutes toward avalanche glacier in seconds. If anyone happens to go that way and finds a single ski with an orange skin on, shivering and afraid, we'd love to have it home again. We went chasing after it but it was long gone. We hope it makes a happy life for a squirrel family out there or gets retrieved by a hero.)
After sacrificing a ski to the weather gods, we booted and glissaded down to Lunch Counter. By 10AM it was already pretty slushy, and I did not envy the 20-30 folks starting up.
We descended the skinning route (booting and single ski suffering), erring just a little east of the Gaia track for the winter route, and found ourselves in 20-25 degree slopes with one deep crack in the wet loose that spooked us. We traversed over to the trail on Gaia to more consistent snow, but there were still more terrain traps opening up at the end of the day. Happily back to the car a little sun burnt and tired by 3PM.
All in all:
Ascent Campground to Lunch Counter by Winter Route: 4.5 hours skinning with heavy packs in afternoon slush
Lunch Counter to Summit: 3 hours skinning/boot packing
Descent Summit to Lunch Counter: ~1 hour booting and glissading
Lunch Counter to campground: ~2.5-3 hours booting/glissading
Happy climbing!
Decon - Mar 20, 2024 11:24 am Date Climbed: Sep 23, 2007
meeting friends
had an amazing trip, weather was great, and met some wonderful new friends. Had an inversion move in before dinner and it was amazing. First Solo Climb
Wheelbarrow - Mar 19, 2024 9:39 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2021
South Spur Route
Spontaneous hike up Mount Adams with cool dude I met on Mount Baker earlier that week.
Snowslogger - Oct 17, 2023 9:39 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2017
AT Ski Ascent/Descent with Michael
Skied in part way and camped on the snow, where we were visited by a Cascade red fox. Skied up the next day - quite a slog. Somewhat icy down to Piker's Peak (the false summit), with nice snow below that. That seemed to be the logical skier turnaround.
punchline - Sep 17, 2023 6:06 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2023
Route Normal
Spent night about 800' below Lunch Counter at well-defined campsite. No running water at this location so had to melt snow. Relatively few people on Holiday weekend although road closures on Hwy 14 due to the Tunnel Fire may have contributed?
dawnclymb - Jun 22, 2023 4:34 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2023
South Spur Standard Route
I climbed with 13 people split into two groups for permitting purposes. 8 of our 13 climbers made the summit on the second day, due to training and blisters.
The first several miles of this climb are through a burnt forest. A lightning strike in 2012 burned over 40 square miles around the mountain, and while it is growing back nicely, it is still less than lovely. I did really appreciate the massive cairns and log poles used for route finding on this mountain. I also loved the tent shelters at Lunch Counter, wow, serious time and effort went into building them. Each site had a sandy bottom, and ample room for gear and our three man tent. We used running melt off to filter our water. No snowshoes were needed on the hike in or out to LC. We used our crampons for the hike up Piker's Peak to the summit, but the ice axes stayed on our packs. No ropes were needed.
Mack1two - Oct 2, 2022 10:03 pm Date Climbed: Oct 1, 2022
Long day C2C
Solo summit. Rough coming down, got a little side tracked towards the southwest chutes and a hell of a time trying to travers back to the trail. So much lose rock and scree, at that slope it was pretty awful. Took about 3 hours longer than planned. Extremely windy from early morning until afternoon. Did use crampons to trek up snow, as it felt easier than some of lose rock, or at least felt like a brake from it.
Good, tough, long day.
bdreese2 - Aug 7, 2022 6:35 am Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2022
On trashed legs after Rainier
After climbing Rainier with RMI I had most of two days left before my flight home. I was indecisive of what to do with this time, but finally decided my legs were good enough to go up Adams. I went to the Lunch Counter on the 26th, reaching camp after dark, then summited the next morning.
one6180339 - Mar 13, 2022 3:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2010
perfect conditions
Camped at ~8600' the night before. Left camp at 5:15 and ascended in great conditions. Perfect weather all day. Beautiful summit!
utahjimk - Aug 11, 2021 3:35 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2021
via South Climb trailhead
tented 2 nights at Cold Springs campground. Beautiful weather for day of the climb. This is my consolation prize for an aborted attempt on Mount Rainier on 7 August.
goldbears - Aug 1, 2021 4:08 pm Date Climbed: Jul 31, 2021
Drier than normal conditions
Breezy, cloudy, drizzly conditions up and down - felt really nice considering the recent heatwave! Left Lunch Counter at 4:00am and found all the snow portions up to Pikers Peak still slushy with A LOT more sections of scree than in previous late-July summits. Not too crowded for a Saturday summit, the weather might've turned more than a few away.
Coryroman - Jul 15, 2021 11:50 am Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2021
Perfect time of year!
hot at trailhead, and no snow on trail until just beneath lunch counter. had the place nearly to ourselves sunday night and even had a visit from a big mountain goat! hit the trail again for the summit climb at 5am monday with plenty of natural light - no need for a headlamp - and took exactly four hours to get to the summit. would have been easier at times with crampons, BUT, not worth the weight to carry them and mountaineering boots just for it. microspikes worked just fine. awesome glissade on the way down saved a ton of time. back at lunch counter lots of bugs harassed us until we packed up and left. final dusty slog back to car was longer than expected.
Rachid406 - May 16, 2021 9:56 pm Date Climbed: May 15, 2021
SW Chutes Ski
Toured up to the summit then skied down via SW Chutes. A great first ascent for me! First 1000' of skiing were dicey coming off the summit, but I had great corn until 7500' in the chutes!
guerinak - May 12, 2021 10:08 pm Date Climbed: Apr 20, 2021
SW Chutes
Epic bluebird spring ski via SW chutes with a nice little hike in to the trailhead making for a long but perfect day with Mike:)
mikekernan - Apr 26, 2021 9:28 am Date Climbed: Apr 20, 2021
Climbed the South Spur and then skied the Southwest Chutes
Other than a little smoke from area fires, conditions were good. Warm, no wind. Added a couple miles trying to find the “best” trail with so many ways to ascend. Needed the spikes, plenty of ash and loose ragged volcanic rock requires patience! A little over 7 hrs RT.
Around 50 people attempted or summitted over the weekend, start at Cold Springs camp at 5AM, 2 hour easy hike to Lunch Counter, 2 hours up moderate slope snow wall to Piker's Peak, decided to class 3 scramble the west boulder talus field . Continued to cross the large saddle and ascend the last ~600 feet with no crampons to the summit at 10AM, cold and windy. First to glissade from peak to Piker's, rough but fun! Car to car round Trip 10 hours, took my time glissading and rested. Beautiful sunny afternoon!
freedeep - Mar 25, 2020 8:32 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 1986
Good practice day hike
Straightforward day hike to summit and back. Sulphur smell at the summit so still some geologic thermal activity. 3 foot tall sun cups, the tallest I have been amongst.
lgoodson - Jun 2, 2024 1:19 pm Date Climbed: May 30, 2024
Mount Adams South Spur/Lunch Counter CampingWe summited Adams early Friday morning after camping at Lunch Counter overnight on Thursday May 30th, 2024.
The week leading up to the attempt was cold and consistent, windy 25-30mph and dying down with some dusting of new snow. Maybe the second or third round of early season corn cycle. With a break in the wind and clear skies, high cloud ceiling, and around freezing at mid to high elevations, we saw a two day window to make a go at it before another storm system moved in. Temps 15-20*F at the top, 20-30*F at 9000 feet, 40s at 6000 feet; little wind 5-10 mph; all sun.
Checked the Forest Service report describing a 1 mile snowy hike in to the trail head, but just two days after its posting the snow is mostly melted out. Some cars were getting stuck but by now I think the road is clear. I recommend a car with decent clearance for the forest road speed bumps. Camp spots might still be snowy at Cold Springs. Outhouses are open.
We packed up and put our skins on and started Thursday afternoon around 2PM in 8-12*C (45-55*F) temps. First mile or so from the campground has thinning but enough snow, some trees down to climb over. Afternoon slush was a little hard going but still manageable. We met a forest ranger who checked our permits- be sure to have them loaded on your phone or printed! They do check!
Got to Lunch Counter just after 6PM, with enough time to find a campsite and plenty of space mid week. About 4-5 parties camped at the top all in all.
Started up Friday morning at 7AM and the ice rime up to Pikers Peak made skinning really tough. We changed to boots and crampons and put the skis on our packs. One or two people valiantly got further up with skis on but it was challenging to traverse, and most everyone with skis transitioned to crampons. At moments I would have liked to have an ice ax instead of ski poles but it was fine.
Summited around 10AM after a slog to the top, boot packing the whole way because of how steep and crusty the snow was. The views were incredible, seeing out to Three Sisters down south and Baker up north.
(Unfortunately, my partner's ski popped off just over the edge of Piker's Peak and went CAREENING down the chute right of SW Chutes toward avalanche glacier in seconds. If anyone happens to go that way and finds a single ski with an orange skin on, shivering and afraid, we'd love to have it home again. We went chasing after it but it was long gone. We hope it makes a happy life for a squirrel family out there or gets retrieved by a hero.)
After sacrificing a ski to the weather gods, we booted and glissaded down to Lunch Counter. By 10AM it was already pretty slushy, and I did not envy the 20-30 folks starting up.
We descended the skinning route (booting and single ski suffering), erring just a little east of the Gaia track for the winter route, and found ourselves in 20-25 degree slopes with one deep crack in the wet loose that spooked us. We traversed over to the trail on Gaia to more consistent snow, but there were still more terrain traps opening up at the end of the day. Happily back to the car a little sun burnt and tired by 3PM.
All in all:
Ascent Campground to Lunch Counter by Winter Route: 4.5 hours skinning with heavy packs in afternoon slush
Lunch Counter to Summit: 3 hours skinning/boot packing
Descent Summit to Lunch Counter: ~1 hour booting and glissading
Lunch Counter to campground: ~2.5-3 hours booting/glissading
Happy climbing!
Decon - Mar 20, 2024 11:24 am Date Climbed: Sep 23, 2007
meeting friendshad an amazing trip, weather was great, and met some wonderful new friends. Had an inversion move in before dinner and it was amazing. First Solo Climb
Wheelbarrow - Mar 19, 2024 9:39 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2021
South Spur RouteSpontaneous hike up Mount Adams with cool dude I met on Mount Baker earlier that week.
Snowslogger - Oct 17, 2023 9:39 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2017
AT Ski Ascent/Descent with MichaelSkied in part way and camped on the snow, where we were visited by a Cascade red fox. Skied up the next day - quite a slog. Somewhat icy down to Piker's Peak (the false summit), with nice snow below that. That seemed to be the logical skier turnaround.
punchline - Sep 17, 2023 6:06 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2023
Route NormalSpent night about 800' below Lunch Counter at well-defined campsite. No running water at this location so had to melt snow. Relatively few people on Holiday weekend although road closures on Hwy 14 due to the Tunnel Fire may have contributed?
dawnclymb - Jun 22, 2023 4:34 pm Date Climbed: Jun 16, 2023
South Spur Standard RouteI climbed with 13 people split into two groups for permitting purposes. 8 of our 13 climbers made the summit on the second day, due to training and blisters.
The first several miles of this climb are through a burnt forest. A lightning strike in 2012 burned over 40 square miles around the mountain, and while it is growing back nicely, it is still less than lovely. I did really appreciate the massive cairns and log poles used for route finding on this mountain. I also loved the tent shelters at Lunch Counter, wow, serious time and effort went into building them. Each site had a sandy bottom, and ample room for gear and our three man tent. We used running melt off to filter our water. No snowshoes were needed on the hike in or out to LC. We used our crampons for the hike up Piker's Peak to the summit, but the ice axes stayed on our packs. No ropes were needed.
Mack1two - Oct 2, 2022 10:03 pm Date Climbed: Oct 1, 2022
Long day C2CSolo summit. Rough coming down, got a little side tracked towards the southwest chutes and a hell of a time trying to travers back to the trail. So much lose rock and scree, at that slope it was pretty awful. Took about 3 hours longer than planned. Extremely windy from early morning until afternoon. Did use crampons to trek up snow, as it felt easier than some of lose rock, or at least felt like a brake from it.
Good, tough, long day.
bdreese2 - Aug 7, 2022 6:35 am Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2022
On trashed legs after RainierAfter climbing Rainier with RMI I had most of two days left before my flight home. I was indecisive of what to do with this time, but finally decided my legs were good enough to go up Adams. I went to the Lunch Counter on the 26th, reaching camp after dark, then summited the next morning.
one6180339 - Mar 13, 2022 3:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2010
perfect conditionsCamped at ~8600' the night before. Left camp at 5:15 and ascended in great conditions. Perfect weather all day. Beautiful summit!
utahjimk - Aug 11, 2021 3:35 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2021
via South Climb trailheadtented 2 nights at Cold Springs campground. Beautiful weather for day of the climb. This is my consolation prize for an aborted attempt on Mount Rainier on 7 August.
goldbears - Aug 1, 2021 4:08 pm Date Climbed: Jul 31, 2021
Drier than normal conditionsBreezy, cloudy, drizzly conditions up and down - felt really nice considering the recent heatwave! Left Lunch Counter at 4:00am and found all the snow portions up to Pikers Peak still slushy with A LOT more sections of scree than in previous late-July summits. Not too crowded for a Saturday summit, the weather might've turned more than a few away.
Coryroman - Jul 15, 2021 11:50 am Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2021
Perfect time of year!hot at trailhead, and no snow on trail until just beneath lunch counter. had the place nearly to ourselves sunday night and even had a visit from a big mountain goat! hit the trail again for the summit climb at 5am monday with plenty of natural light - no need for a headlamp - and took exactly four hours to get to the summit. would have been easier at times with crampons, BUT, not worth the weight to carry them and mountaineering boots just for it. microspikes worked just fine. awesome glissade on the way down saved a ton of time. back at lunch counter lots of bugs harassed us until we packed up and left. final dusty slog back to car was longer than expected.
markhadland@gmail.com - Jul 12, 2021 1:17 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2021
c2c summitc2c summit - up in 7:15, 12 hours RT. Beautiful sunrise.
https://hikingwithhadland.com/2021/07/05/mount-adams-summit-07-04-2021/
Rachid406 - May 16, 2021 9:56 pm Date Climbed: May 15, 2021
SW Chutes SkiToured up to the summit then skied down via SW Chutes. A great first ascent for me! First 1000' of skiing were dicey coming off the summit, but I had great corn until 7500' in the chutes!
guerinak - May 12, 2021 10:08 pm Date Climbed: Apr 20, 2021
SW ChutesEpic bluebird spring ski via SW chutes with a nice little hike in to the trailhead making for a long but perfect day with Mike:)
mikekernan - Apr 26, 2021 9:28 am Date Climbed: Apr 20, 2021
Climbed the South Spur and then skied the Southwest ChutesClimb and ski with G :)
Woodie Hopper - Sep 10, 2020 8:29 pm Date Climbed: Sep 10, 2020
South Climb TrailOther than a little smoke from area fires, conditions were good. Warm, no wind. Added a couple miles trying to find the “best” trail with so many ways to ascend. Needed the spikes, plenty of ash and loose ragged volcanic rock requires patience! A little over 7 hrs RT.
Jowzynkyn - Jul 13, 2020 6:12 pm Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2020
Mid July Climbing BonanzaAround 50 people attempted or summitted over the weekend, start at Cold Springs camp at 5AM, 2 hour easy hike to Lunch Counter, 2 hours up moderate slope snow wall to Piker's Peak, decided to class 3 scramble the west boulder talus field . Continued to cross the large saddle and ascend the last ~600 feet with no crampons to the summit at 10AM, cold and windy. First to glissade from peak to Piker's, rough but fun! Car to car round Trip 10 hours, took my time glissading and rested. Beautiful sunny afternoon!
freedeep - Mar 25, 2020 8:32 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 1986
Good practice day hikeStraightforward day hike to summit and back. Sulphur smell at the summit so still some geologic thermal activity. 3 foot tall sun cups, the tallest I have been amongst.
alexewhitney85 - Sep 12, 2019 12:54 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2019
South Spur RouteClimbed the South Spurt to summit after bivouacking at Lunch Counter. Good glissadde down from Piker's Peak