Mount Adams North Ridge

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Mount Adams, is the second tallest mountain in Washington state. This mountain sits at 12,281ft tall, and the most common climbing route is on the south side. The south side climbing route brings many people each year. From my experience, it seems that an extremely small percentage of climbers opt for the north ridge of Mount Adams. The North Ridge route has a longer approach of about 4.5 miles and 3,000ft elevation gain, that ends at a camp near a small lake. From camp it is roughly 2.6 miles and 4,600ft of climbing along the mildly exposed north ridge, until you reach the summit of Mount Adams.

Mid-Summer Conditions

It was a hot summer in Washington, and I had been wanting to climb the North Ridge route of Adams for a while. July 4th weekend seemed like a perfect time to do this but, I was really hoping we wouldn't experience the weekend rush on this side of the mountain. There isn't much easy to find beta on this route but, it's also not a technical climb. We will mostly encounter class 2, and maybe some class 3, scrambling.

I had been been on a number of overnight climbing trips in different seasons and, I really wanted to try a more "ultra-light" approach for Adams. The weather for the weekend looked perfect, clear skies and sunny. It didn't look like it would be windy at all either. This meant that I wouldn't have to bring as much gear for shelter, or as many layers to stay warm.

I decided to go with my 30L Black Diamond pack. I would bring only a sleeping pad, sleeping bag and tarp for my shelter. This way, I should be able to fit all of my gear in my 30L pack. The only technical piece of equipment I thought would be necessary were my crampons, ice axe and helmet. Since we were climbing up a rocky ridge, the only significant concern was rock falls. Since I wanted to be as light as possible, I also decided to do the approach in my Bedrock sandals.

I'm really hoping the approach doesn't have too much snow...

A Very Straight Forward Itinerary

I made a plan to climb the North Ridge of Adams with two friends of mine, Jackson and Danny. It was a simple itinerary. We would leave Seattle as early as possible, hike the approach to base camp which is at 7,500ft, spend the night there. Then, with an early start, climb the north ridge to the summit the next day, and hike all the way back down to the trailhead. Easy-peasy..

Day 1: The Approach, Sandals & Snow

The drive from Seattle is a bit long. We get to the trailhead and the mosquitos are pretty bad. We get ready and hit the trail as soon as possible. The hike starts in the forest and slowly climbs. We pass by a few day hikers but there doesn't seem to be any climbers.

We finally break out of the forest and get a good look at Mount Adams. We stare at what we think is the North Ridge. The weather was absolutely wonderful. There is no one else on the trail, we truly lucked out on such a busy weekend.

I start to get a rush of excitement after seeing the North Ridge. It looks a bit spicy from where we are but, it's hard to tell what its really like from far away.

We continue climbing. We must be about halfway and we already passed by a few snow patches. I start to get a little worried about how much snow we will encounter on this approach. The trail starts to climb up over a few hills and mini ridges. We are getting closer and all of a sudden snow covers the ground ahead of us. Luckily we are extremely close and my Bedrock sandals have Vibram soles, hopefully that makes a difference...?

Vibram soles didn't make much of a difference unfortunately. Theres a small traverse across a sloped aspect and I was slipping a little more than I would have liked. Luckily, just over that slope was camp. We arrived at the lake, where base camp was, at around 2:40pm. We were pretty tired from the approach and the sun beating down on us.

Base Camp

The camp was great, there were spots for tents with rock walls built up from previous users. I would say there were about 7 spots clearly for pitching a tent, but plenty of room to move some rocks around and make space for a tent. We decided to have a quick late-lunch and setup our shelters.

It was my first time sleeping in only a tarp. Luckily there wasn't a cloud in sight and there wasn't any rain or wind in the forecast.

The best part of my shelter was the view of Mount Adams from my sleeping bag. I could see the North Ridge so clearly. At base camp, there was a huge boulder with a flat top that was perfect for cooking and eating dinner. After setting up camp, we ate dinner before an early night. While I was eating dinner I found myself gazing up at the North Ridge thinking...

Damn, are we really climbing up that thing? This is going to be so sick!

We finish eating and all go about our business. I go pack my bag for tomorrow and get some breakfast and coffee ready for the morning. I slip into my sleeping bag and start winding down...

Next thing I know I hear jackson say in a soft voice; "Yosh, you're missing the show man." I'm thinking...

What the heck is he talking about...

I get up out of my sleeping bag and, instantly, I'm blown away...

I'm so grateful for how beautiful nature is in Washington state. I feel so at peace when I'm out in these remote places. The view that evening from the base camp, on the north side of Mount Adams, was so raw. It's almost magical, when you experience nature with all of your senses. Not only was the view amazing but, the sensation of the cold brisk air, on the parts of my body that were exposed, was energizing. The soothing smells of the Pacific Northwest the are accentuated when surrounded by forest, snow, cascade rock and the mountain air. The subtle sounds of being in the mountains, crunching rocks under my boots, soft gusts of wind flowing across the mountainous terrain, and every other sound that becomes highlighted when you are so far away from the rush of man made, modern, societal life. All of this coming together is definitely something you wish every human can appreciate. It's good for the soul. It's good for all life on Earth, for nature, the environment.

It's time for bed. I head back to my tarp, and slip into my sleeping bag with a renewed respect for life, nature, and the friends I get the share it with. I get a full night of sleep, in the most beautiful, peaceful place.

Day 2: Scramble up the North Ridge

I wake up to the moon shining bright, peaking out above Mount Adams. I boil some water for coffee and oatmeal. After breakfast I pack my things up, break down my shelter and, Jackson and I store our gear under Danny's 4-wall tarp.

We all catch a glimpse of Rainier with the rising sun shining on her eastern aspects, then we head out for the North Ridge. We gain the soft rolling start of the bottom portion of the ridge, but it quickly gets jagged and rocky.

The beginning of the ridge is pretty straight forward, there were even some tracks remaining from previous climbers. The trail is mostly scree with patches of harder rock and snow. We zig-zag up the ridge occasionally dropping down on the east or west side of the ridge, circling around small gendarmes. There was a bit of trial and error, and if you drop down on the wrong side, it gets a bit exposed. We slowly make our way up towards the top. We didn't encounter many difficult portions, nowhere did we feel that we needed a rope.

We get to just below the top of Mount Adams, where it's covered in ice and snow, and we put on our crampons. From this point it's pretty much a gradual hike to the summit. We hike up onto the ice cap and see The Pinnacle to our right, just above the ice falls on the north western aspect.

We continue across the gradual terrain that sits at the top of Mount Adams. We had a ton of fun being only one of two parties that day on the North Ridge. Jackson even got a chance to practice his ice climbing skills.

We crest above the final slope and see some climbers at the summit and realize we are very close. We reach the summit and get our first look down the other side of the mountain... It's busy with a long ling a climbers making their way up the popular south side climbing route. We barely saw anybody on the north side. I'm extremely grateful.