Mount Adams, Washington, August 2018 -
Dan, Erik and I started at the Killen Creek trailhead in the early afternoon on a cool day. Fires were all around but there was nearly no smoke where we were. Killen Creek is on the NNW side of Adams. The trail is popular and used by horses. There are quite a few log steps in the first three miles but it's a nice trail. A new bypass is under construction but I'm not sure when it will be opened.
After about 3 miles there's a stream crossing with some campsites up the stream and fair distance from it. Dan wasn't feeling well so decided to set up there. We had a view of Adams from the site. The stream, at this time of year, was small but the water is good. The night was pretty chilly, probably around 35 at just under 6000'. There was a bit of frost on the meadow in the morning.
We had a quick breakfast and set out to day hike, then wander, up to the meadow called High Camp at around 7100' As we climbed the cloud cover descended but we did get some nice views of Adams and Adams Glacier from our lunch stop. We spotted a few day hikers and one group of four camped well across from us. (Photos below for scale)
On the way back we decided to get off the trail to the east and see what that was like. We went down over some platey andesite, connected with an old trail, left, it then found the PCT again. By then it had begun to drizzle a bit.
It rained some overnight and we woke up to one of those typical Pacific Northwest mornings of maybe 40 degrees, foggy and wet. The hike back down was easy. We picked up a through-hiker on our way and dropped her off for some well-deserved food in Trout Lake. The little diner there has very decent food, by the way.
Dan, Erik and I started at the Killen Creek trailhead in the early afternoon on a cool day. Fires were all around but there was nearly no smoke where we were. Killen Creek is on the NNW side of Adams. The trail is popular and used by horses. There are quite a few log steps in the first three miles but it's a nice trail. A new bypass is under construction but I'm not sure when it will be opened.
After about 3 miles there's a stream crossing with some campsites up the stream and fair distance from it. Dan wasn't feeling well so decided to set up there. We had a view of Adams from the site. The stream, at this time of year, was small but the water is good. The night was pretty chilly, probably around 35 at just under 6000'. There was a bit of frost on the meadow in the morning.
We had a quick breakfast and set out to day hike, then wander, up to the meadow called High Camp at around 7100' As we climbed the cloud cover descended but we did get some nice views of Adams and Adams Glacier from our lunch stop. We spotted a few day hikers and one group of four camped well across from us. (Photos below for scale)
On the way back we decided to get off the trail to the east and see what that was like. We went down over some platey andesite, connected with an old trail, left, it then found the PCT again. By then it had begun to drizzle a bit.
It rained some overnight and we woke up to one of those typical Pacific Northwest mornings of maybe 40 degrees, foggy and wet. The hike back down was easy. We picked up a through-hiker on our way and dropped her off for some well-deserved food in Trout Lake. The little diner there has very decent food, by the way.