Mt Adams Lookingglass Lake and The Hump
Posted: September 11th, 2017, 9:45 am
So where are all the trip reports these days? Are you all cowering at home due to smoke? Well, now it's much clearer up there. The mountains are your escape from smoke.
Lookingglass Lake used to be a very popular backpacker destination on Mt Adams till the Cascade Creek Fire burned through in 2012. There is not a single green tree around the lake any more, just black sticks, and almost nobody comes any more. So I decided to go again. I hiked the Stagman Ridge trail to the unofficial Graveyard Camp trail that connects to the lake. It was 55 degrees with a misty drizzle at the start, a nice change from the heat and smoke we've been having. The drizzle soon stopped and the sun came out, for a while at least.
Typical burned areas on Stagman Ridge
After passing by a place called Grassy Hill, the trail turns left and drops into a small drainage, where there is one of the few areas of green trees, and for now, lots of blueberries and hucklberries
The view from the meadow on Stagman Ridge about 3.1 miles in (as it looked coming out the next day)
After I turned right on the connector trail, this muddy creek comes up right away
The larger branch of Cascade Creek you cross just before hitting the lake trail
My camp on Lookingglass Lake with a bit of a lenticular on Mt Adams
After lunch I left on a dayhike to summit The Hump, a minor bump on a ridge about 4 miles to the north. The Bumper is closer but I had been there. I had not yet been to The Hump.
Horseshoe Meadow
A smaller branch of Cascade Creek passes through Horseshoe Meadow, and had collected this silt next to it, with the consistency of quicksand
The eastern wall of The Hump. I went around to the right/south to the back/west side and got on top with a couple of class three scrambling moves
From the top, looking back at Mt Adams, where clouds were gathering again
Looking south to the nearby Bumper
When I got to the top I saw a huge marmot that immediately ran away. But I stayed there a while and he peaked out after a while
Back near camp, the falls on Cascade Creek
Next day on the way out, don't remember seeing this flower before
The fireweed was giving off these cottony seeds
Way to the south is Mt Hood, with the wildfire smoke lingering in the lowlands
By sunset clouds had socked in everything and the misty drizzle returned. But it didn't last long and it was mostly clear in the morning with just some high clouds.
Lookingglass Lake used to be a very popular backpacker destination on Mt Adams till the Cascade Creek Fire burned through in 2012. There is not a single green tree around the lake any more, just black sticks, and almost nobody comes any more. So I decided to go again. I hiked the Stagman Ridge trail to the unofficial Graveyard Camp trail that connects to the lake. It was 55 degrees with a misty drizzle at the start, a nice change from the heat and smoke we've been having. The drizzle soon stopped and the sun came out, for a while at least.
Typical burned areas on Stagman Ridge
After passing by a place called Grassy Hill, the trail turns left and drops into a small drainage, where there is one of the few areas of green trees, and for now, lots of blueberries and hucklberries
The view from the meadow on Stagman Ridge about 3.1 miles in (as it looked coming out the next day)
After I turned right on the connector trail, this muddy creek comes up right away
The larger branch of Cascade Creek you cross just before hitting the lake trail
My camp on Lookingglass Lake with a bit of a lenticular on Mt Adams
After lunch I left on a dayhike to summit The Hump, a minor bump on a ridge about 4 miles to the north. The Bumper is closer but I had been there. I had not yet been to The Hump.
Horseshoe Meadow
A smaller branch of Cascade Creek passes through Horseshoe Meadow, and had collected this silt next to it, with the consistency of quicksand
The eastern wall of The Hump. I went around to the right/south to the back/west side and got on top with a couple of class three scrambling moves
From the top, looking back at Mt Adams, where clouds were gathering again
Looking south to the nearby Bumper
When I got to the top I saw a huge marmot that immediately ran away. But I stayed there a while and he peaked out after a while
Back near camp, the falls on Cascade Creek
Next day on the way out, don't remember seeing this flower before
The fireweed was giving off these cottony seeds
Way to the south is Mt Hood, with the wildfire smoke lingering in the lowlands
By sunset clouds had socked in everything and the misty drizzle returned. But it didn't last long and it was mostly clear in the morning with just some high clouds.