July 1 and 2, 2010, Mt. Adams

A few friends and myself had planned this trip weeks back, hoping that summer might actually arrive by early July. The forecast looked OK, but not great, and since we'd committed to the time slot, off we drove at 6 AM on the 1st. Got to Trout Lake Ranger St. at about noon, just before lunch break, and they said, "Tomorrow looks like the better day". On to the trailhead, and on skis by 2:15. Were able, with some friction skinning, to stay on snow all the way from South Climb trailhead. Got to 6425 ft. and pitched camp right off of the climbers trail. Windy and cloudy w/ lenticulars, we knew there was change affot, so just chilled and an early sack out.

Snowed intermittantly all night, and our hopes were low. Alas, 5 AM and we could see the summit, so spirits soared, even with a non-sleep night. On skins at 6:45, and the clouds from the west looked to be holding off. As well, no lenticulars in sight. But, as we got to Lunch Counter, and the False Summit face was right in our laps, the rapidity of change in the summer weather pattern took over. At 9500 ft., the clouds socked us in and the snow began to fall in earnest. We waited for about 10  minutes, and then knowing that we had a last-chance time of 2 PM to be on and off the summit, we turned 'em back downhill. The storm lasted about 90 minutes, and dumped an inch of sloppy fresh as low as out camp!

As our luck had it, the summit came back into view off and on until after we left Trout Lake. Even though we will return another day to summit, our 5,335 ft. of vert was pretty nice for the first days of July. There is a good likelihood of summiting for the next few weeks, and hopefully the ice will soften up soon for the rest of you!!