Trip Report

For the longest, most side-splitting glissade - Mt. Adams is the place! Leaving the trailhead at 1:30 p.m. put our group at the 9,000-ft. base camp called the Lunch Counter about 2 hours and 45 minutes later. Most of the hike was on snow but the sun was hot. The late afternoon and evening was spent melting snow for water, cooking dinner, setting up tents, etc., amidst lots of laughter. There was still plenty of time for each of us to get off by ourselves to enjoy the view and contemplate the beauty of the area, with Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens as a backdrop.

We arose at 5 a.m. and left for the summit at 5:55. Our group was strong and we kept up a good steady pace with breaks for carbos and water when necessary as we compared our athletic bars and power juices. Jan and Ed reached the summit at 9:50 a.m. with the rest not far behind. Views of Mt. Rainier were spectacular. The summit had a wind of about 10-15 mph with temperatures of about 45 degrees. Everyone lunched in front of a snow bank to get out of the breeze and then it became just downright hot! After a 1-hour 40-minute break, we began the sl-i-d-e-e-e-e-e-a home. And I do mean slide! It was like being in a toboggan at the Olympics with a few airborne bumps. What took us hours to get up took 15-20 minutes to get down. Bill Reiswig had a great ski trip down on his X-country. The rest of the descent was mostly plunge stepping and sinking. We packed up the gear and headed back to the cars for our trip home. Everyone enjoyed pizza in Hood River then went their separate ways.

There was so much laughing on this trip due to the great people along - Jerry Crosby, Jamie "PC" Kiley, Ed "Bomber Glasses" Lovegren, Kyle "Gloria" Merriam, Bill Reiswig, Chris Shuraleff, Karin Thompson and (conservatively speaking!!) leaders Jan & Rich Anselmo.