It's early June, 2010, but a wet and cool spring has left a heavy snowpack on Mt Adams despite a mild winter. With a GPS track, I decided to snowshoe up the Stagman Ridge trail to Horseshoe Meadows and camp. The weather is supposed to be great going up, but a storm is moving in.
Despite being just over 4000 feet, the trailhead is clear of snow.
More snow convinced me to put my snowshoes on soon enough
Too soon! It clears at the wilderness boundary
Hints of what is to come
Starting the climb up the Grassy Hill area
Snow coverage soon is full and permanent - this is about 5000 feet
A mile further up, a large meadow gives the first full view of Mt Adams
And another mile is the view at Horseshoe Meadows. It took under four hours and I used my GPS track from a hike the previous year extensively
Although there are no clouds there, they are moving in - you can see the shadow on Adams here
Since it was early and those clouds looked a bit ominous, I decided it would be prudent after taking a nice break here, to head back down to the previous meadow. A much more sheltered place to be when the storm arrives, and a shorter hike out in the rain the next day. Here is my break spot at Horseshoe Meadows
It took a half hour to get back to the lower meadow where I set up camp. Snow was about 4 feet deep
It was still mostly sunny and warm, but a shower moved in at 7pm. I wondered if I was tent-bound for the night, but it ended at 7:30 and I had a wonderful evening watching various clouds move through and see how they affected the light on Mt Adams. Here are pictures from that fantastic evening.
