TMax
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Mount Hood was the fourth peak in my planned "quadventure." Having just done Whitney, Boundary, and Shasta
I was feeling strong and more than ready for this hike. However, having attempted Hood in May and turning back in some of the worst white-out conditions I've ever experienced, my anxieties were higher than normal. This would get in my way and cause me difficulties.
Guinness, JayH, Giggy and I got started on the trail about 12:30 am on July 21. The Portland area was experiencing a record-breaking heat wave and we wanted to be back off the mountain before the snowpack warmed up too much. The night was already warm and never got cool enough to really firm up the snow from the previous day's thaw. This added to climbing anxieties. Clackamas County Search and Rescue were set up at the trailhead (looking for one of their Rangers who hadn't checked in). Up goes the anxiety meter even further... The first mile (and 1000' of ascent) up to the Silcox Hut went quickly but still no snow. I was constantly considering turning back. It was impossible to turn of that negative crap that kept running through my head. Shortly after this, we hit snow. It wasn't that bad, so I started to feel better about the climb. We continued to make our way up in the dark on moderately steep terrain. We had caught up to a large guided group and had no problem with letting them continue to kick in steps. At times the snow would give way to rock fields but we'd quickly be back on soft but well consolidated snow. By now, we'd hit the top of the Palmer Glacier (about 8500') and the volume of my doom and gloom voice was way down. I started to consider going for the summit. We began to smell the stink of sulfur and at a brief rest stop, Guinness made a fancy maneuver that led to an injured back. He continued to climb up but at about 10,000' he decided he needed to turn back. Giggy was ready to head down with him, but Guinness said he would be fine and encouraged us to continue. By this time I had experienced a complete change in attitude and was ready to solo up the rest of the mountain if need be! I was losing patience with the slow pace of the guided group so headed up and out around them. Turned out they were putting on crampons and roping up. We made our way past them up to the Hogsback (10,200') where the day was just beginning to shed some light on us and then on to a flat section next to a big smelly fumarole! We had found the primary source of all that sulfur. We got a good look at the Bergshrund and it's gaping crevasse. The standard route is to cross the Bergshrund (easy early in the year, later on there is usually a snow-bridge, later still the crossing moves further to the right) and head up through the Pearly Gates. But due to all the increased warmth, the Bergshrund has opened too much and is considered too dangerous to pass. So instead, climbers are using the "Old Chute" to gain access to the summit ridge. This way is steeper but currently safer. So we followed the three rope teams up this incredibly steep slope being careful to watch for any slips on their part that could result in knocking us off the mountain as well. A solo climber blew past us and climbed to the right of everyone without crampons or an ice-ax, just kicking steps the entire way up. Near the top of this slope, the snow turned to ice which made for a few precarious steps before gaining the summit ridge. There was more exposure on a short section of the ridgeline than I would have expected with incredibly steep drops off both sides of a moderately wide knife edge. A couple ups and downs over mixed snow and rock and we were on the summit! The morning was somewhat hazy and we could barely make out St. Helen's and unfortunately could see nothing more than a very vague outline of Rainier. But even so, the views were awesome. We took some summit photos, fueled up and headed down before the snowpack got even softer. Re-tracing our steps down that steep pitch was done cautiously (I lost footing on the icy section but arrested easily as I already had my ax well planted) but with effective plunge-stepping we made it down fine. Jay fairly flew down it without a care! One of the rope teams had a small accident going down but also arrested easily in the soft snow. Jay and I were able to glissade a short distance and the lower portion of the descent was spent trying to avoid the groomed ski/snowboard trails and all the people using them! We were back in the parking lot by 10:00 a.m.
This was an incredible finish to my "quadventure" during which I hiked about 85 miles and made 30,000 feet of ascent tagging three more state high points and another California 14er. Wish I could do that every week!
Here's my Hood photos... (They are only partially done...check back again later!) http://community.webshots.com/album/552509461CnJKkQ
I was feeling strong and more than ready for this hike. However, having attempted Hood in May and turning back in some of the worst white-out conditions I've ever experienced, my anxieties were higher than normal. This would get in my way and cause me difficulties.Guinness, JayH, Giggy and I got started on the trail about 12:30 am on July 21. The Portland area was experiencing a record-breaking heat wave and we wanted to be back off the mountain before the snowpack warmed up too much. The night was already warm and never got cool enough to really firm up the snow from the previous day's thaw. This added to climbing anxieties. Clackamas County Search and Rescue were set up at the trailhead (looking for one of their Rangers who hadn't checked in). Up goes the anxiety meter even further... The first mile (and 1000' of ascent) up to the Silcox Hut went quickly but still no snow. I was constantly considering turning back. It was impossible to turn of that negative crap that kept running through my head. Shortly after this, we hit snow. It wasn't that bad, so I started to feel better about the climb. We continued to make our way up in the dark on moderately steep terrain. We had caught up to a large guided group and had no problem with letting them continue to kick in steps. At times the snow would give way to rock fields but we'd quickly be back on soft but well consolidated snow. By now, we'd hit the top of the Palmer Glacier (about 8500') and the volume of my doom and gloom voice was way down. I started to consider going for the summit. We began to smell the stink of sulfur and at a brief rest stop, Guinness made a fancy maneuver that led to an injured back. He continued to climb up but at about 10,000' he decided he needed to turn back. Giggy was ready to head down with him, but Guinness said he would be fine and encouraged us to continue. By this time I had experienced a complete change in attitude and was ready to solo up the rest of the mountain if need be! I was losing patience with the slow pace of the guided group so headed up and out around them. Turned out they were putting on crampons and roping up. We made our way past them up to the Hogsback (10,200') where the day was just beginning to shed some light on us and then on to a flat section next to a big smelly fumarole! We had found the primary source of all that sulfur. We got a good look at the Bergshrund and it's gaping crevasse. The standard route is to cross the Bergshrund (easy early in the year, later on there is usually a snow-bridge, later still the crossing moves further to the right) and head up through the Pearly Gates. But due to all the increased warmth, the Bergshrund has opened too much and is considered too dangerous to pass. So instead, climbers are using the "Old Chute" to gain access to the summit ridge. This way is steeper but currently safer. So we followed the three rope teams up this incredibly steep slope being careful to watch for any slips on their part that could result in knocking us off the mountain as well. A solo climber blew past us and climbed to the right of everyone without crampons or an ice-ax, just kicking steps the entire way up
. Near the top of this slope, the snow turned to ice which made for a few precarious steps before gaining the summit ridge. There was more exposure on a short section of the ridgeline than I would have expected with incredibly steep drops off both sides of a moderately wide knife edge. A couple ups and downs over mixed snow and rock and we were on the summit! The morning was somewhat hazy and we could barely make out St. Helen's and unfortunately could see nothing more than a very vague outline of Rainier. But even so, the views were awesome. We took some summit photos, fueled up and headed down before the snowpack got even softer. Re-tracing our steps down that steep pitch was done cautiously (I lost footing on the icy section but arrested easily as I already had my ax well planted) but with effective plunge-stepping we made it down fine. Jay fairly flew down it without a care! One of the rope teams had a small accident going down but also arrested easily in the soft snow. Jay and I were able to glissade a short distance and the lower portion of the descent was spent trying to avoid the groomed ski/snowboard trails and all the people using them! We were back in the parking lot by 10:00 a.m.This was an incredible finish to my "quadventure" during which I hiked about 85 miles and made 30,000 feet of ascent
tagging three more state high points and another California 14er. Wish I could do that every week!Here's my Hood photos... (They are only partially done...check back again later!) http://community.webshots.com/album/552509461CnJKkQ
