Mount Adams

Mount Adams is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and the second-highest mountain in Washington.
Adams is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, and is one of the arc's largest volcanoes, located in a remote wilderness 31 miles east of Mount St. Helens.
The Mount Adams Wilderness comprises the upper and western part of the volcano's cone. The eastern side of the mountain is part of the Yakama Nation.
Adams' asymmetrical and broad body rises 1.5 miles above the Cascade crest. Its nearly flat summit was formed as a result of cone-building eruptions from separated vents.
The volcano has a volume of 85 cubic miles placing it second only to Mount Shasta in terms of bulk among the Cascade stratovolcanoes.
The Pacific Crest Trail traverses the western flank of the mountain.

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Routes

South Spur

82 summits • 8.2 mi • 3,322 ft gain • 10 hr 42 min

North Ridge

6 summits • 16.9 mi • 7,966 ft gain • 24 hr 24 min

Mazama Glacier

1 summit • 8.2 mi • 3,322 ft gain

Mount Adams 13.6 mi route

1 summit • 13.6 mi • 6,640 ft gain • 6 hr 41 min

Latest summits

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"Camped at Glacier lake to summit, then back to camp. 8000' elevation gain. Crampons were worn from 2750m to summit. Full fall conditions, and Ice lead to a longer summit day. Didn't see a person in the 3 days." — ken_hercules • Oct 12, 2019

"Part II - Climb to the summit from Lunch Counter Left for the summit from Lunch Counter around 4:30 a.m. with our crampons on. The sunrise at 5:30 a.m. was spectacular. Climbed up the snow fields most of the way and across rocky scree areas in places. The suncups were prominent, deep in places and endless. Overall, it was a straight-forward climb on the way up to the summit with an ice axe, crampons and one pole. The views from the summit were amazing on this clear day. From the summit you could most of the Cascade Range volcanoes (Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, Mt Baker, and Glacier Peak). it was spectacular!.We glissaded on the descent in multiple places. This was quite fun, but beware of the occasional rocks given the low and slushy snow conditions. After descending to our camp at Lunch Counter, we packed up and hiked the rest of the long and hot trail back to the trailhead. I definitely recommend getting an early start and returning before it gets too late in the day and the snow conditions deteriorate further. The wildflowers and burnt tree trunks make for a very dramatic hike." — joeerickson • Aug 6, 2019

"Returned to Adams 6 years after a miserable early season attempt where we were stormed off the mountain. This time, things could not have gone better. High winds were forecast but failed to arrive. We had a nice climb up the South Butte / Winter Route up to Lunch Counter. Overnight was chilly but not cold. We awoke to clear skies and light wind - perfect cramponing conditions up Pikers Peak. The traverse from Pikers up to the summit was longer and harder than I anticipated. Crystal clear views of Hood, St. Helens, and Rainier. The top of the glissade chute on Pikers was still very icy, so we descended about a third of the way down before glissading back to camp. A great climb!" — edg • Jun 23, 2019

"Six of us were stuck in a cave for three hours on 8/4/18 about an hour below the Lunch Counter. Severe hail storm with lightening. No warning. We were instantly wet and cold." — blindskov • Aug 5, 2018

"Left Spokane the day before at 2PM and cruised into Cold Springs around 8:30PM. It was a Tuesday so much fewer people than the trip reports that I’ve read before…maybe 15 cars. The next morning I started on the trail around 6AM, wishing I’d woken up earlier. The ascent was spectacular. 5mph winds, no clouds, 40ish degrees. The only downside to the elements was the haze from the British Columbia fires. I never got a glimpse of Hood or MSH, and only a peak of Rainier (once I summited). I knew it was going to be warmer so I decided to go without ice axe (trekking poles only) figuring if anything I’d be postholing because of warm weather. I did bring and use crampons, which would say are quite nice on the final push up false summit. The most difficult part was the final hump getting up to the false summit. Once at Piker’s I met some really nice people out from Baltimore who were meeting their son in Seattle afterward from a cross-country bike trip (He was in the midst of riding coast-to-coast, east-to-west). From there the peak is less than a 1000 feet up, so we all ascended up together-ish. Up to the summit in about 7 hours. We ran into another group at the summit out ..." — zachmitch • Aug 9, 2017

"long slog up, mostly boots and crampons above the shoulder. snow was crappy, hard runnels and variable up high, with a few thousand feet of decent conditions on the SW Chutes lower down where it had softened enough. lots of traversing and up-climbing over various ridges, constantly traversing left on the descent to make it back to the south side route and trailhead, definitely made the descent lots of work and less enjoyable" — hauteroute • Jul 1, 2017

"Solo, 21.9km return with 2297m of elevation gain. Started with sunrise at 5:16am; 5hrs up, 2 - down, 8 hours car-to-car. Had whiteout between 2600m and ~3000m, twice. Plus a thundercloud on the way back, had to run down from South Butte." — alexp • Jun 9, 2017

"Another Cascade volcano ski weekend (I can't get enough of these!)...a short sleep leading into an after work drive to Rogers Pass for another short sleep in the car in the rain, and then working from Vernon before driving 9 hours with buddy to Trout Lake, Washington for 2:30am arrival and 3 hr bed down in the tent. Up at 6am and walking up the logging road at 7:30am with 2.5km of walking until skis on and another 1km to trailhead and then the long slog up the south rib. Buddy wasn't feeling it so turned around half way and I continued up. WTF I have to go down after the first false summit!!! Pushed through with ski crampons to a windy summit and then tried to ski down skier's right of the terminal moraines but massive cornice with huge glide cracks meant I gingerly skied alongside the cornice ridge all the way into the forest. Skied a ways down until finally reaching end of snow and 2 guys packing up there skis. Walked out and ended up at campground and so had to walk 1km back up the logging road to the car. 8 hrs up and 2 hrs down 2300m and 22km. Went to cafe after (great spot) and at 7pm, with prospect of doing it solo and advice from a Portlandian to not take the Palmer lift at..." — alexjoseph • Jun 3, 2017

"South Spur. A little under 4 hours to camp at 9400 feet. A little under 4 hours to summit. 3 hours down to camp, 3 hours down to car. Running water at 6700 feet (Morrison Creek crossing), 9400 feet (northeastern edge of Lunch Counter), and around 12000 feet. Snow level around 7400 feet, though we went up the ridge east of the Crescent Glacier to avoid the snow. Glissaded down the Crescent Glacier. Don't take the big glissade chute, it's blocked by rocks." — mathiasricken • Aug 14, 2016

"Hiked to lunch counter, spent night and summitted 0500 next morning in 20* temp, glissaded down and tumbled when ice axe blade was backwards, got back to camp, rested, broke down tent and hiked down. Fun day!" — HolleyB • Jun 14, 2015

"We had been wanting to try the non-technical route of Adams before the busier summer weekends, and the fantastic weather forecast for this weekend was the perfect opportunity. We were going to do the usual 2-day trip, but decided to go for a one-day ascent despite not knowing anyone who had tried it personally, and seeing few one-day trail reports. Leaving Seattle at 12:45 (seems like the rest of the city had the same idea to get out of town early for the weekend - what traffic!) we were able to get to Hood River in time for a nice dinner and we spent the night at the Trout Lake Motel on Highway 141, which is a nice, quiet little place to get a good night's sleep prior to a long day. The self-serve registration at the Mt. Adams Ranger station is easy, and we took care of that the night before. The drive from Trout Lake to the Cold Springs trail head takes about 45 minutes. The unpaved road is pretty rough, but our friend's Audi hatchback managed to make it without too many scrapes, and we arrived at a nearly full parking lot at 4:45 am. There were several other parties starting at the same time, and it was already quite light out. The beginning of the hike follows an old logging ..." — BryHong8 • Jun 13, 2015

"Had a great climb up Mount Adams. Cold with gusty winds, but great snow conditions for climbing...not so great for glissading. More pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/101381476@N06/albums/72157652253898313 " — reidstidolph • Jun 13, 2015

"Started off crystal clear blue skies at the south climb trailhead on the 4th. We went up to the lunch counter for a quick nap with the intentions of an early morning summit to watch the sunrise on the 5th. We left the lunch counter at 130am it was really windy. Once we got on top of pikers peak we were in freezing fog. We decided to keep going. When we arrived at the summit at 4 am it was still dark plus we could hardly see eachother in the frozen wind. We quickly decided we would not wait for the sunrise. The weather forecast said it was going to be clear. Something had changed so we headed back down early. It's really too bad we had no visibility. One climber with us had never been to the summit. Mt Adam has an amazing 360 view. We will have to go again! " — rebecca1 • Jul 5, 2014

"After failing to summit Adams in one day last year, I was determined to succeed to get the job done this year. It was a very long day. I had some major altitude sickness for the last 2,000' but I pulled through! :) Great day indeed. " — aimk13 • Jul 13, 2013

"We took our time and stayed at the lunch counter over night. Nice weather (70+) provided great views with the exception of smog from the fires. The glissade slides were starting to show exposed rock but still allowed us to fly down." — climbbot • Aug 12, 2012

"Beautiful weather the trail was well marked and used made for easy traveling. We were able to park about 0.25 miles from the trailhead! We had a 4WD Jeep. Made it especially nice since most people had been parking about 3 miles from the trailhead. Climbed to the lunch counter then camped out for the night. The weather was clear. We woke up around 5 am and headed to the summit. Serously nice day. Snow was great. " — rebecca1 • Jul 5, 2012

"Camped at Lunch Counter previous night - ideal location and running water to boot. Fantastic weather both days. Summitted Sunday, glissade was okay - not as epic as last year's trip. Road is snowed in 3 miles from TH, and the entire trail is under snow. Conditions from Lunch Counter to summit - crampons recommended but do-able without them if steps are kicked in in icy areas. My boots were killing me for all 18 miles - this was easily the most misery I've ever been in." — diana • Jul 1, 2012

"Left TH at 2:45 am, encountered snow fields and intense winds, hit Lunch Counter around sunrise, tagged summit 10:45 am with crampons and ice axes, enjoyed a fun glissade back to Lunch Counter and beyond, enjoyed wildflowers on the hike out. Back to car at 2:50 pm." — diana • Aug 20, 2011

"Climbed Adams South Spur route in a day. It was so cold and windy on the last mile to the summit that I climbed in my big puffy down jacket. Best glissade ever--the only reason to climb this peak. Otherwise a long and boring slog." — beaucheminjess • Jul 27, 2011

"We threaded the needle. I met up with two of my friends, Pete and Scott, in Hood River on Tuesday evening July 19th. They rolled in from Seattle while I was staying with my family in Hood River for the week. The weather had been total crap all week long and despite it being July, it looked to be sheer Armageddon on Adams from the view (or lack of it) I had from Hood River. The reports said freezing and snow above 11,000 feet. I had scoured the internet for any up-to-date accounts of climbs of Adams in the previous day or two and found only one report of someone who turned back because of white out. One of my buddies, Pete, though an accomplished alpine skier who spends his winters at Squaw Valley, had precious little backcountry experience and brought his alpine ski boots for the climb and ski. I grimaced imagining his feet at day’s end. But then again, I didn’t expect him to make it very far out of the parking lot. Given everything, I didn’t think we had much shot of summiting and imagined the snow would be bulletproof anyway. Until 2 pm the day before I was about to pull the plug, but as I wavered on the phone with my friend Scott in Seattle, he said, “You reali..." — hinmania • Jul 20, 2011