For this weekend's hike I parked at the Williams Mine trailhead. I started up the Pacific Crest Trail at about 4,000' elevation.
The day's loop was 15.9 miles total. The midpoint of my path was on the eastern side of the loop at about 6,100' elevation. That's about halfway up the west side of Mt Adams.
That's also about as far as I'm inclined to hike this peak. From there point I was still just under treeline. Remaining trees had been thinned sparse by fire. The up side of it being more open than expected was a closer look at Mt Adams.
A down side was very little shade relief on a hot day. Thank goodness Osprey was so great about replacing the leaky bladder in my hydration pack before leaving NV this spring. While I only drank about 1L of water on this hike, it's reassuring to have 2.5L capacity!
From the westside-midway up Adams I got a pretty clear view of Mt St Helens about 30 miles due west.
I could also see Mt Rainier about 46 miles slightly west of due north.
Meltwater was still running off Mt Adams.
This was the swiftest water crossing I encountered.
AllTrails computed the elevation gain at 2,687' which is a combined measure. I kinda think that's cheating. The high point in the trail was about 2,100' above the low point where I started. Still a good day's workout!
