Adams: Red Butte
Posted: October 12th, 2020, 4:29 pm
If you've hiked on the NE side of Adams, you've certainly noticed the striking Red Butte, a satellite cone that's new and prominent enough that it really grabs your attention. Maybe you've wondered about getting to the top. I had a busy day, but enough time at the end to fit this in.
I approached from above, and headed to a high point on surrounding terrain, where the Red Butte cone spills over a pre-existing ridge. Where that ridge meets the cone, it became a simple trudge up loose cinder. It's a hassle, as you would expect, but there's not much elevation, and it goes fast.
At the top, I was reminded that there's a summit ridge. It's a lot like Mt Hood, and many other volcanoes: a crater rim, with a big collapse on one side. A quick easy ridge walk took me to the far side, away from Adams. I think this was the summit, by just a few feet of elevation.
The crater harbored a bit of dry grass, and it looks like maybe there's a tiny seasonal outlet creek, probably just a dribble.
This took very little work, but it wasn't extraordinary. The effort/reward ratio was acceptable. But here's where it sucks: Getting back on trail requires crossing a lava flow, and that's miserable. In retrospect, maybe I should have retraced my route to get back on trail. That would be a lot of work, but might be easier. Overall, Red Butte isn't a great objective. It's better to be enjoyed from a distance, unless you're an obsessive peak bagger.
Oh, almost forgot: It's mostly Yakama Nation, but the most sensible route pretty much follows the boundary, so if you really want to do this, it's legal.
Final note: This was a few days ago. There might be a bit of snow there at the moment.
I approached from above, and headed to a high point on surrounding terrain, where the Red Butte cone spills over a pre-existing ridge. Where that ridge meets the cone, it became a simple trudge up loose cinder. It's a hassle, as you would expect, but there's not much elevation, and it goes fast.
At the top, I was reminded that there's a summit ridge. It's a lot like Mt Hood, and many other volcanoes: a crater rim, with a big collapse on one side. A quick easy ridge walk took me to the far side, away from Adams. I think this was the summit, by just a few feet of elevation.
The crater harbored a bit of dry grass, and it looks like maybe there's a tiny seasonal outlet creek, probably just a dribble.
This took very little work, but it wasn't extraordinary. The effort/reward ratio was acceptable. But here's where it sucks: Getting back on trail requires crossing a lava flow, and that's miserable. In retrospect, maybe I should have retraced my route to get back on trail. That would be a lot of work, but might be easier. Overall, Red Butte isn't a great objective. It's better to be enjoyed from a distance, unless you're an obsessive peak bagger.
Oh, almost forgot: It's mostly Yakama Nation, but the most sensible route pretty much follows the boundary, so if you really want to do this, it's legal.
Final note: This was a few days ago. There might be a bit of snow there at the moment.
