This is becoming a yearly thing I guess as this is the third time I do this trip. As last year, I planned to leave early on Saturday, drive to the ranger station to pick up the permits and then get to the trailhead and start climbing. At the ranger station we learned that, with all the snow still lingering around, the summer route was not doable. I didn’t know the south climb or the route I’ve done in the past was known as the summer route or that there was an alternative. They told us that, instead of turning northeast and crossing the Morrison Creek to keep straight up and follow the path being careful not to go the wrong way. So a bit baffled, we drove to the trailhead and, as informed, we found some patches of snow at that elevation. Once on the trail, we found several patches here and there until we got to the fork with the trail that goes around the mountain. From that point on, we were on snow. This is pretty rare this time of year but a clear indication to what lay ahead. This route, contrary to the normal route seemed steeper and more direct to Lunch Counter as we noticed that we were gaining elevation quite quickly. The views were not late either as we got the amazing view of Mt St Helens right next to us and Mt Hood in the back. As we continued climbing we passed right next to South Butte, a small red pinnacle that you can see from the summer trail as well. After passing the ridge, that was the last section without any snow, it was down to the hard snowfield between Crescent and Gotchen Glaciers. At certain points, the hill seems to be as steep at the upper section of the mountain which, with our heavy packs, made the whole thing quite the workout. Early in the afternoon we finally made it to Lunch Counter and found some unoccupied wind shelters (the same shelters we used the first time I climbed). Once the whole group got there, we took our time to relax, eat, filter water and set up our tents. Later in the afternoon we took a walk towards the eastern side of Lunch Counter that overlooks the Mazama Glacier. Views were fantastic as ever. On our way back, as the sun was setting, we got a pretty spectacular show of colors and scenery as Mt Hood turned red and Mt St Helens stayed in the shadows. On Sunday we woke up to a magnificent clear day. After a quick breakfast and breaking down camp, we got ready for our summit and started climbing. As soon as we got to the slope, we noticed that wind was picking up. That was kind of refreshing as it helped us cool down a bit as we climbed. With temperatures starting to rise, we got a perfect demonstration on how weather works. Wind started picking up moisture from the melting snow and taking it up the slope towards the summit. With the colder temperatures up there, clouds started forming really quickly. As we were approaching Pikers Peak, we could see that clouds were increasing pretty fast to the point that, once we got to Pikers Peak (the false summit), the rest of the mountain was completely covered. We made a quick stop to adjust gear and then continued up straight to the summit. We did this section pretty much by memory as there was absolutely now views. Once at the summit I just put my camera away as there was no point in even taking it out. We stayed there for just a couple of minutes and then got ready to glissade down. From the summit to Pikers Peak we took an alternate route that allowed us to get there faster. Then, it was a single run all the way down to Lunch Counter. The glissade was a lot fun despite the two girls in front of me stopping all the time as they didn’t want to go too fast. Once at lunch counter, we took a break to re-group and eat something before heading down which happened without any major incidents other than taking the wrong route which we had to correct. In all it was a fun trip and always good to be on the top of a big mountain. As with the trip last year, we didn’t get the views so we’ll see what happens next year
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