May 27, 2004, Adams S Spur to Lunch Counter
5/27/04
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2543
2
Adams is encased in a sheath of mostly water ice from 8000' up to at least 9500' where we turned around. Ski crampons took stomping to get purchase, axes were useless - you'd need a hammer to get a self-belay, might as well try self-arrest on bare concrete, etc. Fun survival skiing, but it got a bit better lower down.
We figured things had warmed up nicely, then gotten drenched by rain, then frozen overnight, repeat a couple of times to get what we saw.
The road up to the Cold Springs trailhead is closed at a lower trailhead, prolly Crofton something - can't quite remember. And, there seemed to be very little snow on the upper mountain. I've only climbed it in September and judging from that I expected to see much fewer bare rocks (well, verglas-covered, as it were).
We figured things had warmed up nicely, then gotten drenched by rain, then frozen overnight, repeat a couple of times to get what we saw.
The road up to the Cold Springs trailhead is closed at a lower trailhead, prolly Crofton something - can't quite remember. And, there seemed to be very little snow on the upper mountain. I've only climbed it in September and judging from that I expected to see much fewer bare rocks (well, verglas-covered, as it were).
Nice, Stebbi! Sounds like good 'fun'.
Turns out the distance from parking to the Cold Springs trailhead was 3 miles. The drifts were fairly thick, so it will be a little while before the road melts out.
Reply to this TR
Please login first: