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Mountain Mammas meet Mount Adams—Making a Marvelous Memory

Julie Endres

My best trip of the summer was the scramble trip to Mt. Adams led by Shirlee Read this past July. Dubbed the "Mountain Mamas" (heh heh!) by our leader, the group of six women consisted of leader, Shirlee Read (there for her second try), Lisa, this year's scramble student Sheri and last year's graduates Julie Endres, Joanie, and Marilyn. We were a tight-knit group full of enthusiasm and determination.

We met in Puyallup on Monday July 29, 1997 and then enjoyed the caravan-style drive to the trailhead at Cold Springs Campground at 5,600'. We hiked out immediately for our first night's destination—the "lunch counter" at 9,000'. It was an arduous climb with heavy packs full of overnight gear, food for three days, lots of BIG mountain warm clothes, crampons and ice axes. We were extremely glad to reach our destination around 8:15 PM just in time to set up tents and heat up dinner before the sun went down. Our first night on the mountain was spectacular with a gorgeous sunset, clear views and a full moon rising. The weather that night was mild with just a bit of wind. We spent an extremely relaxing Tuesday napping, eating, exploring nearby, eating, reading, acclimating, eating, and melting snow for water. The day was very sunny and hot behind our rock wall barricade and the views were outstanding all day long. Again, another stunning sunset introduced a clear moonlit night as we turned in early in anticipation of an early summit day.

Three-thirty AM on Wednesday saw the Mountain Mamas arising for the task at hand- climbing to the summit of Mt. Adams at 12,276'. By 5:00 AM, with the full moon still shining as the sun came up, we were already on the ascent up to the false summit. A steady slog saw our group divide into two groups: the first group led by alpha-female Marilyn and followed closely by Joanie and Sheri reached the false summit and then the summit a half hour ahead of Shirlee, Lisa, and Julie. The second group was cheered on and pictures were taken as they approached the summit ridge. Shirlee shed tears of joy and relief to see all of us standing at the summit together in the bright blue sky with little wind. We had the top to ourselves for almost two hours as we wandered around the broad summit ridge, taking photos, resting, and eating out of the wind near the old lookout. We were ecstatic at our luck with the weather, the views and our accomplishment.

The best was yet to come as Shirlee led the way for the descent. In their exuberance, Julie and Joanie glissaded down from the summit in crampons while the others glissaded down in saner fashion. We rested briefly at the false summit then prepared for the 2,000' glissade of a lifetime in perfect snow to our base camp at the lunch counter. It was fast, giddy fun with many a whoop and holler.

Then it was time to pack up and hike back down for the long drive home that same night. This drive included not only a dinner stop but also two lengthy detours due to road construction, two heavy traffic backups and another delay awaiting a film crew shooting a scene near Mt. Rainier. Many thanks to Shirlee and the other "M's" for the success of our climb. And, many thanks to the Mountain for allowing us such a rare and wonderful opportunity to experience the best.