Hitting the Trails: 12/28/2013 Mount Adams (Almost!)

Saturday 12/28/2013

Mount Adams

Air Line Trail / Star Lake Trail / less than 50 feet from summit - turned back due to dangerous wind gusts / Star Lake Trail / Valley Way

Pulled into the Appalachia Trailhead parking lot and was surprised to see about 10 cars already there. Temperature at the trailhead was a "balmy" 35 degrees for my first "official" winter hike of the season. I started up Air Line and the trail had a light coating of new snow over a hardened crust of snow and ice, but I didn't need any traction until about an hour into the hike. I kept shedding layers and wondered if any of the boot prints along the way were from this morning, as they appeared to be a couple of days old. I followed what seemed like miles of rabbit tracks in the fresh coating of snow heading up the trail with numerous side paths of tracks into the woods. I was half tempted to do some bushwhacking and see where those rabbits were headed!

Until I hit Durand Ridge the trail was protected from the wind by the forest cover, but sections of trail would become very loud with the wind gusts moving through the trees and I kept looking up for any loose branches getting ready to drop on me. Once I hit the clearing at Durand Ridge, I got my first taste of what the wind would be like today. After getting blasted as I left the tree cover, I quickly retreated to throw on my shell and a second layer of gloves and then got my essential wind gear stuffed into my shell for later.

There were a few impressive "wind tunnels" along the ridge including an incredible sustained gust ripping across the junction of Air Line and Chemin des Dames. The wind was strong, but not "knock you over" strong, so I kept going. Not much visibility into King Ravine today, but I was able to spot the RMC Crag Camp across the ravine. As I continued climbing, trail visibility was about 30-40 feet ahead of me, and Madison Hut appeared out of the fog. I ran into the first people (and dogs) I saw, who started early and were regrouping near the hut before heading on their way back down. I didn't stick around to chat as I wanted to keep going so I don't know if they were able to bag a summit.

I decided to take Star Lake Trail up in order to hopefully avoid some of the wind. Star Lake was frozen solid and the wind picked up as I started heading up the steep southeast side of Mount John Quincy Adams. About half way up, the wind was in full force and I threw on the balaclava and goggles. There was some fun scrambling using all fours up some tricky sections near the crest. Once I hit the ridge crest and took about 5 steps, I felt the full force of the very powerful, sustained wind whipping over the ridge. Every step was a tremendous effort to maintain balance. Once I lifted a leg to move the wind would push me around (now I know what a rag doll feels like). It was really amazing to feel the powerful force of Mother Nature. I only made about 10 steps and hunkered down for a couple of minutes hoping this was a gust that would die down, but it was not to be. I took a quick video before the camera shut down on me and wondered how close I actually came to the summit (I knew I was very close, but there was no way I was going any further I that wind). I started thinking about any loose items attached to my pack which might go flying off the ridge and thankfully I had all my gear stowed securely in the pack. Later my GPS track would reveal I was less than 50 feet from the summit (give or take the usual margin of error on those things). I will return!

I made my way back down Star Lake Trail and ran into two guys heading up who had to bail on Madison due to high winds and were hoping to summit Adams. I told them what it was like for me and wished them luck as I continued back down. After a quick break near the hut, I headed down Valley Way, which was much more broken in compared to Air Line. I passed a couple of more groups heading down, who also had to bail on summiting either Madison and/or Adams.

Any day in the mountains is a good day. A review of the Mount Washington Observatory website indicated winds from 70-90 mph at the summit. The videos I took of that wind really doesn't capture how powerful and unrelenting those gusts were.

As a side note, I was able to test out some new gear with great results. I brought out a new Patagonia R1 full zip jacket which was my outer layer below tree line and probably would have remained my outer layer on a calmer day. It's really warm and compresses down to next to nothing in my pack. I also splurged for a pair of Oakley A Frame goggles, since most reviews I read were very favorable on no fogging. These goggles are worth every penny, as I did not fog up at all, which usually happens for me once the balaclava goes on.