Mt Adams (WA)

[swolpin]

Reverse Lollipop OKT: Matt Palilla and I set what we think is an OKT on 8/14/2013 running up Adams, back down, and then running around it. Total Elapsed Time: 23:16 hours starting from Cold Springs. This was unsupported, though we did cache stuff on the way up for the circumnavigation. 

We ran up in sneakers and with trekking poles, sticking to the rock as much as possible. We ran around the mountain counter-clockwise so we could navigate the no-trail section in the light. It was one of the hardest things I have done. Super fun though. Recorded with Delorme SE 2 way communicator and two flaky Garmin GPSs. 

www.sethwolpin.com/2013/08/mt-adams-mashing-up-only-known-time.html



Total mileage covered by GPS's: 38.6 miles

Elevation gain: 14,261ft. Elevation loss: 14,261ft. Starting elevation: 5,561ft. Max: 12,289ft

Left Campsite: ~3:25am

Arrived junction with loop: 3:45am

Summit: 7:40am

Arrive Junction with loop, start circumnavigation 10:00 am.

Arrive Junction with Loop, finish circumnavigation: 2:06am

Arrive Campsite ~2:42am

Total Elapsed Time according to Matt's watch: 23:16 hours.




Section with no trail

[Dan Kraft]

On August 10th, 2014, I made my first attempt at Mt. Adams. Ended up with an ascent of 2:29:01 and a total time of 4:01:28. Can't wait to return to this great volcano, what a playground!

www.strava.com/activities/178608396

[weathertl]

On July 2, 2016 Tim Dearden completed a FKT of the round trip Mt Adams Climb, South Climb Route.  The start and finish was at the Cold Springs Trail Head #183.  He completed the ascent and descent in 3:55:50.  I am unable to find a faster round trip to the summit of Mt Adams via the South Climb Route.  The ascent was completed in 2:43:52.  Below is GPS proof of the climb and descent.  

Garmin Connect:
connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1238393576

Strava:
www.strava.com/activities/627840277

[Trevor Alcott]

I was wondering who that was! I was going for the FKT myself on the South Climb route the same day and heard many people say "another runner?!"

My time to the summit was 2:20:28, but I met my girlfriend halfway down and took her back up to Pikers Peak, so my total time was nothing of significance. Bravo to Tim for the round trip FKT!

Strava:
www.strava.com/activities/637042559

BTW Dan Kraft set the previous ascent FKT of 2:29:01 on 10 Aug 2014 -- it's buried in the "Mountains-All Regions" forum.

[weathertl]

Wow that is an incredible time to the top. Nice job!

I didn't know about the FKT thread in the "Mountains-All Regions" forum. I was assuming someone had done a faster ascent though. That is why I didn't post it. I haven't been able to find a round trip time/forum though so thats why I created this one. My time of 3:55:50 is very beatable though.

[seano]

I ran Adams via the south route this morning in 2:02:45 up and 3:10:42 round-trip. I should have started a bit later: the snow was manageable with just worn trail runners, but too hard to glissade on the way down, especially with no axe. I actually GPSed this one for a change, so here's the Strava link: www.strava.com/activities/660145016/overview

Unfortunately, Strava's route-matching is useless for such a variable route, so no one's path will match anyone else's.

[Pete Kirkham]

On Sunday July 31 Sean O'Rouke completed the South Trail climb to the summit and back (car-to-car RT) in 3hrs 10' 42". Both myself and Jack McBroom witnessed this amazing run. Sean is the current record holder for the California 14ers and Jack was the previous 14er record holder! See his blog here:

drdirtbag.com/

This guy is the real deal!!!

[Pete Kirkham]

This from Sean O'Rourke's blog:


Adams (2h02m45 up, 3h10m42 rt, FKT)

Posted on July 31, 2016


Sorry, no photos. This was Serious Business, and the camera would add weight.

After a couple of days recovering from Fury, and another few with a friend enjoying good food, good music, and even a casual peak, it was time to get back to the serious business of outdoor suffering. Mount Adams, one of the Cascades Volcanoes (and ultra-prominence peaks) I have yet to climb, is enough of a pain to reach that I have previously passed it by several times. This time I fought through road construction on I-5, then drove the windy paved-then-dirt-then-bad-dirt road up from White Salmon. In the dark the narrow, rutted road lined with logs and slash looked like a wrong turn, but when I pulled into the herd of cars parked among the snags just after midnight, I knew I was in the right place.

I got a short night’s sleep, then a slow start to the day, with hot Cup o’ Sadness and a PB&H. Since I was going for speed, I planned to bring minimal gear: running shoes, windbreaker, and hip belt with one bottle and two Clif bars. To make this gear work, I needed the snow to have softened enough to descend without crampons or axe, but not enough that I would posthole or wallow on the way up. At around 7:30, I thought it seemed warm enough, and had run out of patience, anyways.

My body initially felt sluggish, but soon remembered its purpose as I jogged up the wide, rocky, dusty trail. The trail deteriorates where it crosses a small stream, becoming several braided paths that roughly follow a line of giant cairns. Since the route is used year-round, changing snow conditions create multiple best paths. Looking at my GPS, I was concerned that my vertical ascent rate so far had been only slightly faster than the 2h20 ascent I wanted to beat. This worry turned out to be misplaced: while I was doubtless slowed by altitude after so much time near sea level, my increased climbing efficiency on the steeper talus and snow slopes (vs. flat-ish trail) more than compensated.

I switched between rock and snow on the climb to the “lunch counter” taking a line more-or-less straight toward the southern sub-summit, generally left of the groups I began to see ahead of me. The snow was worryingly firm toward the left (west) edge of the broad face, but crunchy enough to provide secure footing. Above the lunch counter I moved right, linking various up- and down-boot-tracks and sometimes passing people. Checking my ascent rate, I was pleased to see that I was approaching 3200 ft/hr, slightly faster than I had expected, and well faster than on pace for 2h20.

Topping out on the south false summit, I jogged a boot-pack traverse, then hiked the final grunt to the summit, where a group had congregated in the old fire lookout’s lee. I put on my windbreaker before the summit, already getting chilled in the west wind, then hiked up on the snow covering the cabin. Views were clear in all directions, with Rainier, St. Helens, Hood, Jefferson, and the Sisters all clear. I took it in for a few seconds, then started jogging down.

I cut a corner down the sand on a path I had seen on the way up, then ran to the false summit. The snow had softened enough that I felt secure fast-walking down boot-packs, but it was not soft enough to really open up. I exchanged the occasional word with people I had passed on the way up, then finally got to start running near the “lunch counter.” I made a small route error below there, going too far left, then took a few scrapes trying to use a huge glissade chute with a t-shirt and no axe (the runout was fine, but braking was hard). After that, it was a wild, fast run to the trailhead.

As I stopped my watch, took out my earbuds, and oriented myself, I heard someone probably asking me a question. He asked about my time and, when I told him, asked my name. It turned out he was Jack McBroom, the former California 14er record holder! After we got over our mutual surprise, we hung had a pleasant conversation while a few of his friends finished the hike (he had, naturally, run ahead) and stored their gear. Then they took off, and I began the important business of eating random things — better ones than usual, though — before driving on to the next.

[andrejs]

Aug 24, 2016 0:16:32 GMT -5 Pete Kirkham said:

This from Sean O'Rourke's blog:


Adams (2h02m45 up, 3h10m42 rt, FKT)

Posted on July 31, 2016


Sorry, no photos. This was Serious Business, and the camera would add weight.

After a couple of days recovering from Fury, and another few with a friend enjoying good food, good music, and even a casual peak, it was time to get back to the serious business of outdoor suffering. Mount Adams, one of the Cascades Volcanoes (and ultra-prominence peaks) I have yet to climb, is enough of a pain to reach that I have previously passed it by several times. This time I fought through road construction on I-5, then drove the windy paved-then-dirt-then-bad-dirt road up from White Salmon. In the dark the narrow, rutted road lined with logs and slash looked like a wrong turn, but when I pulled into the herd of cars parked among the snags just after midnight, I knew I was in the right place.

I got a short night’s sleep, then a slow start to the day, with hot Cup o’ Sadness and a PB&H. Since I was going for speed, I planned to bring minimal gear: running shoes, windbreaker, and hip belt with one bottle and two Clif bars. To make this gear work, I needed the snow to have softened enough to descend without crampons or axe, but not enough that I would posthole or wallow on the way up. At around 7:30, I thought it seemed warm enough, and had run out of patience, anyways.

My body initially felt sluggish, but soon remembered its purpose as I jogged up the wide, rocky, dusty trail. The trail deteriorates where it crosses a small stream, becoming several braided paths that roughly follow a line of giant cairns. Since the route is used year-round, changing snow conditions create multiple best paths. Looking at my GPS, I was concerned that my vertical ascent rate so far had been only slightly faster than the 2h20 ascent I wanted to beat. This worry turned out to be misplaced: while I was doubtless slowed by altitude after so much time near sea level, my increased climbing efficiency on the steeper talus and snow slopes (vs. flat-ish trail) more than compensated.

I switched between rock and snow on the climb to the “lunch counter” taking a line more-or-less straight toward the southern sub-summit, generally left of the groups I began to see ahead of me. The snow was worryingly firm toward the left (west) edge of the broad face, but crunchy enough to provide secure footing. Above the lunch counter I moved right, linking various up- and down-boot-tracks and sometimes passing people. Checking my ascent rate, I was pleased to see that I was approaching 3200 ft/hr, slightly faster than I had expected, and well faster than on pace for 2h20.

Topping out on the south false summit, I jogged a boot-pack traverse, then hiked the final grunt to the summit, where a group had congregated in the old fire lookout’s lee. I put on my windbreaker before the summit, already getting chilled in the west wind, then hiked up on the snow covering the cabin. Views were clear in all directions, with Rainier, St. Helens, Hood, Jefferson, and the Sisters all clear. I took it in for a few seconds, then started jogging down.

I cut a corner down the sand on a path I had seen on the way up, then ran to the false summit. The snow had softened enough that I felt secure fast-walking down boot-packs, but it was not soft enough to really open up. I exchanged the occasional word with people I had passed on the way up, then finally got to start running near the “lunch counter.” I made a small route error below there, going too far left, then took a few scrapes trying to use a huge glissade chute with a t-shirt and no axe (the runout was fine, but braking was hard). After that, it was a wild, fast run to the trailhead.

As I stopped my watch, took out my earbuds, and oriented myself, I heard someone probably asking me a question. He asked about my time and, when I told him, asked my name. It turned out he was Jack McBroom, the former California 14er record holder! After we got over our mutual surprise, we hung had a pleasant conversation while a few of his friends finished the hike (he had, naturally, run ahead) and stored their gear. Then they took off, and I began the important business of eating random things — better ones than usual, though — before driving on to the next.

That's a good time, but is there any GPS data to verify this?  

[JCx2]

agreed. my dog has a garmin now. Words go on a blog, data goes on proboards. people, this is not hard to figure out.

[seano]

Aug 26, 2016 12:16:59 GMT -5 andrejs said:

That's a good time, but is there any GPS data to verify this?  

See the other Adams thread in the "mountains" board. Here's my track on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/660145016

Note that a GPX file isn't worth much as "verification." It's just text, so it's at least as easy to fake as a blog post, and probably easier than photographs. Believe what you want.

[Trisha]

Does anyone know what the women's FKT is up and down Adams? There has to be one, but it has proved to be elusive to find (maybe on Strava? but I'm not on there). Please encourage ladies to post their FKTs. Women don't seem to post this information as often as men. We need more female info so we can push one another! Thanks!

[seano]

A quick fish around Strava turns up a possible 5h37: www.strava.com/activities/658014161/overview . That's solid, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a faster time out there.

EDIT (see below): D'oh! Clearly too much of my brain is occupied by "Game of Thrones" -- I saw "Arya" and immediately thought of Arya Stark.

[swolpin]

Aug 23, 2017 12:44:46 GMT -5 seano said:

A quick fish around Strava turns up a possible 5h37: www.strava.com/activities/658014161/overview . That's solid, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a faster time out there.

Hey Sean - Arya is a friend and very much a dude  


Trish, I saw the thread question come in via email and was going to reply that I my friend Trisha had just gone up/down in six something, and then I saw you were actually the one posting the question lol. You should just claim it here! Set the bar! Wow - I can't believe some of the times on this page. 

Incidentally - pretty sure Richard Kresser did a climb and circumnav during his 'Dick's RASH' adventure and faster than what Matt and I did it in back in 2013, but I don't know Richard's time (or how bad his rash got).

[Trisha]

Funny Seth! I only hiked it and not even really with a sense of purpose, since we stopped and talked with people along the way both up and down. A real women's FKT should be listed. There's gotta be one out there!