July 19-20, Mt Adams Southside Butter

My first of what I hope to be many TR's.

A great concert at the Gorge Saturday night was followed by a lazy sunday which included a beautiful drive south from Randle on 23, some relaxation Hood River style (AKA Full Sail) and a great BBQ dinner at my family's place near Northwestern Lake. We woke up early Monday morning and headed to Cold Springs, via the Trout Lake Ranger Station. Not a ton of cars, but more than I was expecting for a Monday. Seeing little glimpses of snow in the parking lot and below was sure a beautiful site for this time of the year!!!

We took off from the trailhead about 9 am with fully loaded packs and an objective of reaching the upper part of lunch counter, with plenty of time for a lazy evening. We did just that, reaching continuous skinnable snow a couple hundred yards above the Round-the-Mountain trail, we made steady progress stopping for lots of water breaks and just to take in the incredible environment that is Mt Adams. Took the skis off once for a short stroll down a snowless ridge and then finished of our skin with a couple strong bursts to a campsite just on the upper reaches of lunch counter. Exhausted from the high afternoon temps, and the last inclince to camp we set up a tent and proceeded to pass out for a good to hours. Woke up about 5 and started in on our luxury weight item (We love us the Black Box!). After a couple card games, glass or two of wine, and some dinner we watched the sun go down and hit the sack. By the way, I have yet to see a sight prettier than the stars on a clear night at Lunch Counter.

The next morning we set off up Pikers on hard crisp snow. Made quick progress up the first half of the face but soon my skis were slipping all over the place, combination of rocker and thinly cut skins. I had to Bootpack the upper half of Pikers while my Fiance made it all but the last 100 feet or so on skis. Clouds early made for firmer snow and we took along break at the top of Pikers to allow for some softening. We eventually got motivated and traversed to the bottom of the true summit. An hour later and we were at the top. Made it just in time to see Rainier get swallowed by clouds. Another decent break at the top to allow for better snow and we were ready for 5,000-6,000 feet of vert. For many reasons we chose to ski back along the hikers trail, and the snow we hit was perfect.

Some sketchy bits right below the summit in terms of small ice formations and weird pockets turned into incredible corn for all but the last couple hundred yards back to dirt. Saw a couple skiers on their way up, maybe some fellow Tayers, but were too excited for the cold beer and pizza awaiting us to stop and chat.

Shoes on, back to the car, and down to Beinveneti's Pizza in Bingen for a little bit of everything they make to replace our calorie losses. A fun adventure with my wife-to-be and incredible skiing in late July... Couldn't ask for anything better!!!