Mt. Adams Loop Trip, Day 2, Devils Gardens to Camp above Bird Creek Meadows (2018/07/23)


Even though I only went 7 miles, the day was super challenging. As I lay in my tent at the end of the day, I was so tired and just wanted the sun to go away. The sun had been shining on me since 7am. I left camp at 5:40am. It was nice and cool and there was plenty of light. I was prepared for an entire day of route-finding and solitude as conditions would change from meadow to creek-crossings, trail-less schwacking and clambering across a snowfield or two. The day turned out to be all that and nothing that I could not handle.
Mt. Adams shoulder above Devil's Gardens



First I had to cross a creek. I determined it was too deep to cross without wet feet so I changed out of my shoes and stepped into the icy water. I found the faint trail through Devil's Gardens and followed this up and up and up a gentle slope to the top of the ridge on the shoulder of Mt. Adams. This immediately crossed over into the Yakima Reservation. This is where I was prepared for the trail to stop, but instead it continued onto the reservation for a few more miles. Usually visible or marked with cairns though there were a few places where I lost the trail, at a snowfield, and at a few of the creeks and meadows. There were lots of gorgeous open pine meadows and tons of lupine. It was very peaceful and I saw no people for the entire day.
Goat Butte in the distance

Yakima Reservation lands

Open pine forests and Lupine meadows
The trail ended near Goat Butte. Here there were lots of little springs and camps, as well as many trees burnt from bonfires. I dropped down and crossed a few cute creeks and then tried to find my way around a very brush-filled creek. The first large glacial creek was Rusk Creek but it was easily managed in Tevas. I had trouble following the GPS route and scrambled up the side of a steep ridge. I think the easier path goes around the end of the ridge. On the other side of the ridge is the infamous Big Muddy Creek.  I crossed a few loose moraines and aimed for a crossing where the water looked slower. It only took four steps to cross the creek and the water was only thigh deep. I was very happy to be on the other side without any trouble. In most places, the water looked very fast and dropped sharply so I was glad to have found a safe place to cross.
Goat Butte

Rock formation on Goat Butte

Ridge of Wonders

Big Muddy Creek
I followed the moraine up to a snowfield and watched a few goats cross the snowfield and head over to the Ridge of Wonders. It took me about an hour to climb the snowfield. The sun beat down and the heat made me very slow but it was good to be at the top of the ridge and feel a nice breeze.
Moraines and snowfield 
Goats on the ridge



Rock and snow
East side of Mt. Adams
I passed through Sunrise camp and descended. I found the descent down the snowfields a bit confusing and again had trouble following the GPS track. I failed to recognize that I was approaching a band of cliffs and a giant falls called Hellroaring Falls though I knew I needed to reach a ridge on the other side of the valley. I finally sidehilled on some goat tracks on a very loose moraine. At that point my nerves were a little shot and I was disappointed that I didn't cut across the head of the valley higher up. But I found a very nice camp at about 7000ft. and was back on the GPS track. I was still in Reservation lands and technically prohibited from camping, but the area was obviously well-used and there was no one around so I didn't have any hesitation about setting up camp there.
Descending near Sunrise Camp
Again it was a warm wait in the tent before the sun started going down.  I cooked dinner and dipped water from a dripping snowfield. I was completely spent and slept like a dog. I was happy to have made it through the most uncertain part of the trip and felt a bit like a survivor.

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