Mount Adams South Climb – early September

[Benjamin N]

The Tuesday and Wednesday after Labor Day this year, I am planning to summit Mount Adams with my partner via the South Climb / Lunch Counter Approach (described here: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-adams-south-climb), camping at the Lunch Counter before making the summit push Wednesday morning and then descending all the way back down after that. Just looking for a little advice to make sure we are prepared. I saw this post from 2012 (https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/64867/), but since I’m going later in the year, I thought answers may be different.

TLDR itinerary:
-Monday night: camp at Morrison Creek or Cold Springs Campground
-Tuesday: hike up to the Lunch Counter. Camp there overnight.
-Wednesday: get to the summit in the morning. Hike all the way back down after that.

Longer version / questions:

I’ll be leaving the Mount Hood area late morning / early afternoon Monday. We camp Monday night at either Morrison Creek Campground or Cold Springs Campground. It looks like Cold Springs is closer to the trailhead, but it sounds like the last few miles past Morrison Creek may have poor road conditions. We’ll be taking a rental sedan, so no off road capabilities or anything like that. Obviously would like to cut off extra miles, if possible, but also don’t wanna get a car stuck in mud. Thoughts on which we should aim for?

This late in the year, is there enough snow and ice that ice axes and/or crampons or even trekking poles are necessary? It sounds like there are two reached to make the final summit push and one is far less technical, I believe it’s called Suksdorf ridge, so we’d prefer that if possible. If ice and snow gear is necessary, is there somewhere nearby to rent? If no rental, I can probably borrow trekking poles from a friend.

Finally, how much time should we leave for the descent? I’ve heard some people saying you could do it in only four hours if you want.

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