Camping 2011: Mount Adams

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In September (2011) we took a camping vacation. We were able to stay at Dolly Copp Campground. The main access road had been washed out by the heavy rains from Hurricane Irene. Fortunately, we found out from the ranger station the morning we left that it was now open. So on Monday we drove up to Bethel Maine and to Gibson Apple Orchard for some Macoun apples. Then we went back to New Hampshire and set up our campsite.

Our campsite & it's view:

Pickup truck, tarp, and tent set up at a wooded campsite at Dolly Copp Campground

Woman sitting at the picnic table under a large tarp beside the tent and pickup truck

Wide view of the campsite with tarp, tent, pickup truck, and fire ring in the woods

Fire ring and picnic table at the campsite with a wooded ravine beyond

Tuesday was our big hike: Mount Adams. (Another Mount Adams webpage) We followed the Airline trail, which has excellent views and is a really nice hike in good weather, which we had. The trail starts out in a very nice woods, following a ridge up to the alpine zone. Once we reached the alpine zone we decided to put on our jackets. The wind was not particularly strong but enough to steal your heat since the temperature was probably in the 50s. The steep ravine going down on the right is Kings Ravine; there is a hiking trail that goes up the valley and then climbs up that steep wall. Our path from here went along the ridge that is on the left of this next picture. The peak to the right is actually Mount Adams; the one on the left is a sub-peak called John Quincy Adams which our trail skirted on it's way to Mount Adams.

Steep rocky mountain ridge and ravine seen from the alpine zone on Mount Adams

Notice the dragonfly above my head. (Side story: later in the hike we saw a helicopter going by below us. That was rather interesting.)

Woman standing on the rocky alpine trail with cairn, boulders, and hazy mountain views behind her

The path follows a "knife's edge" along the ridge, although it is much wider than the one at Katahdin.

Rocky trail following the ridge toward Mount Adams above low alpine vegetation

Paul:

Man standing on the rocky alpine trail with Mount Adams rising behind him

me, a bit tired by this point:

Woman sitting on summit rocks with steep mountain slopes dropping away behind her

The road in this picture is going towards Gorham (Northeast of the mountain), and goes over a 'steep' hill, 8% grade, that really does tax a car engine. They have a runaway truck breaking area at the bottom. What is interesting is how flat it looks from up on the mountain. (An alternative path, the Valley Way, goes up this ravine to the Madison Hut. It is a good alternative in weather that is less than ideal.)

View down into a broad forested ravine with roads and distant mountains beyond

AMC Madison Spring Hut, with Mount Madison behind it. Mount Madison is a bit lower than Mount Adams (407' lower).

Madison Spring Hut with Mount Madison rising behind it

We arrived at the peak in very good time, 4 hours for the 4.3 mile 4500' elevation gain hike. Mind you, my legs were pretty tired by that point. This is actually the biggest day-hike vertical ascent in the Northeast, more so than even Mount Washington (which is 400' taller but it's trailheads start 600' higher in elevation). Here is a view of Mount Jefferson, then Mount Washington (notice the auto road), then Wildcat (notice the ski trails).

Mount Jefferson seen from Mount Adams across a broad rocky alpine saddle

Mount Washington with the auto road visible on its slope, seen from the summit area

Rocky summit foreground with cairn and distant mountain ridges under large clouds

A nice look back down our trail. This top portion is more akin to rock-hopping than what you would think of as a trail:

Cairn on the summit rocks with shadowed mountain slopes and valley below

Here I am at the top. It was very nice, and the view is wonderful. We had lunch to the left of where I am sitting, where a large rock cut down the breeze.

Woman sitting on summit rocks with distant mountains and cairns behind her