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On August 16th, 2002, my friend Dr. Mike and I climbed to the top of Mt. Adams in southwest WA state.  The summit is 12,276 feet high.  Adams is the second highest peak in the state and the third highest in the Cascades.  John Adams is my favorite American president, so it was doubly gratifying to climb his namesake. We were fortunate to have perfect weather on this day. 

The trailhead is at about 5,600 feet:

Max, eager to head up the trail since it was already after 5 PM

Very early in the beginning of our hike, we were greeted with this view of the southern side of Mt. Adams:

Looks like no big deal...

Two or three miles into the hike, we were able to look south and get some great views of Mt. Hood across the Columbia in Oregon:

Can you make out the Columbia River?

Here's Mt. Hood from about 9,000 feet; at this point, it was necessary to don crampons and have an ice-axe at the ready (dorky hat was optional).

At about 9,500 feet, the slope becomes about 45 degrees; here, I'm looking up towards the false summit.

Here's Dr. Mike on a stretch of lava rock right before the final push to the false summit (aka "Piker's Peak", 11,657 feet). This is about where we started to notice the paucity of oxygen.

Right before the final climb to the actual summit, we had to skirt some scary-looking schruns; note the ice shelf sloughing off behind Dr. Mike.

This was probably stupid for me to be standing near this bergschrun. Oops. Check out Hood in the background.

At the point where we were about to quit and throw up, we spied the summit, where there are the remains of an old sulphur mine.

The shack at the summit provided a sort of resting place.

This is what Dr. Mike came all the way from Milwaukee for. Check out this view of Rainier.

I did it. Here's the proof.

It was kind of cool to look DOWN at Mt. St. Helens. Or what is left of it.

Another view of Mt. St. Helens.

After spending just a few minutes at the summit, we cruised on down back to my car and drove home. What a day!

IMAGES from ADAMS ASCENT, JULY 2003