Mt. Adams Loop Trip, Day 4, Horseshoe Meadow to Mt. Adams High Camp (2018/07/25)


I had the best night of sleep and got up around 5:45 with the intent of beating the heat. I again hit the trail around 6:30 and hiked in the shadow of Mt. Adams for the first 1.5 miles or so. I was soon on the PCT. It was a very easy day of only 10 miles or so.




I took two long breaks, first on a lava flow looking out toward Rainier (until the flies started buzzing around). The second break was at a stream where I chatted for awhile with two southbound hikers. The woman was pretty young and fit and was going southbound after hiking northbound the previous year. The gentleman was older and it sounded like they had met along the way and teamed up. They were travelling very light and did not look like they had tents. They described how they were seldom more than a day or so from a resupply and were only eating bars and trail mix and not cooking.







The trail was not that crowded and I saw more southbounders than northbounders. Perhaps I was ahead of the northbound crowds by a week or so. Soon after, I encountered a group of three older women who asked me if there was a big creek to cross and I couldn't remember any on my map for the day so I was confused but soon came to the Lewis River crossing and knew they had just crossed this.  In any case, there were easy logs to cross and no need to take off shoes there. I finished my Mt. Adams loop at 10:30, less than 4 days and a very leisurely trip at that. Most people can do it in 3 days or even 2. I headed up to the Mt. Adams High Camp on the advice of my 100 Hikes guide book. There were only a few other people who passed through including a trio of old codgers arguing about the best path up the snowfield. I camped below the snowfield and watched them hike up the snowfield and up on the moraine above the snowfield. For an afternoon break, I hiked up the snowfield in my Tevas. The sun was incessant and there was very little shade to be found. I set my tent up behind a rock wall but there was no shade there. I found some trees to hang out beneath and read. I was reading a book on the philosophy of science that Nathan gave me. I gave that book the old college try but after awhile the author got very repetitive and I abandoned that book.

There was a nice snowmelt brook near camp and I spent the time after dinner wandering and taking photos and listening to the silence.



Gentian are my favorite high-altitude flowers


Looking toward Mt. Rainier, Goat Rocks, and the journey ahead.









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