REPORT: Triple go rooound 'n' up 'n' between

Summary

I summited, circumnavigated, and linked-up Mt. St. Helens (8,363ft), Mt. Adams (12,281ft), and Mt. Hood (11,249ft) on foot. It took me a whopping 198:58:11 (8d 6h 58min) to complete the 300mi route with 73,000ft of elevation pain. This made me fairly tired. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever attempted or completed this challenge. I wouldn’t recommend it in any case.

The challenge

Because wildfires foiled adventure plans A, B, C, D, E, F, … to S, I cooked up plan T: the Triple go rooound ‘n’ up ‘n’ between. The challenge consists in:

circumnavigating and
summiting Mt. St. Helens (8,363ft), Mt. Adams (12,281ft), and Mt. Hood (11,249ft), and
connecting the three volcano circumnavigations/summits on foot in-between.

This was a slightly more ambitious, but somewhat a natural progression of my modest 2014 Adams to St. Helens and 2015 Adams to Hood beginning adventures.

The route needs permits for summiting Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and for the Mt. Adams circumnavigation through the Yakama Indian Reservation.

A map of my route. You can zoom in on Strava.

Nothing flat here. 73,000ft of honest elevation pain.

Media coverage

Movie

Some words and pictures

This was by all means a last-minute adventure. I initially thought I could do this unsupported, but abandoned the idea the night before the start and decided to drop some resupply buckets on the way to the start. It was simply not feasible to carry all the food plus the climbing gear for Mt. Hood for the entire route.

With some luck I had already secured a permit for the Mt. St. Helens climb because someone canceled a trip. The permits for Mt. Adams and for the circumnavigation through the Yakama Reservation were easy to secure because there are no quotas.

Because I was under the assumption that the Truman trail system on the north side of Mt. St. Helens was closed until 2027, I had planned a (significant) detour on the Smith Creek trail #184 that would then connect me to the Windy Ridge road (NF 99). However, at the Ape Canyon trailhead I learned that the trails are actually open on weekends. I must have misread the website. Well, this was actually good news because it would be Saturday when I needed these trails.

I headed out into the unknown on the Ape Canyon trail #234 just after 7am on Fri, Aug 2, 2024. Later than I usually like to start, but dropping the resupplies took several extra hours.

At the start.

Once I reached the Loowit trail, I headed clockwise around the volcano toward the climber’s bivouac. I soon encountered trail markings for the Volcanic 50 race, which would happen the next day. The markings made some of the volcanic rock field crossings a little easier.

It was fairly busy on the climb to the summit. Lots of groups were still ascending, although it was past lunch time. I saw several groups with children who seemed to have a great time. The Mt. St. Helens summit always feels a little anticlimactic to me. At least I could see Mt. Adams, but Mt. Hood was unfortunately hidden in some clouds and smoke.

I headed down immediately and continued clockwise on the Loowit trail.

Heading clockwise around Mt. St. Helens on the Loowit trail.

Grinding up to the summit.

Summit crater view. A fine view.

Cruising down again through the rubble.

On the ridge after crossing the Toutle river.

I managed to finish the Mt. St. Helens circumnavigation just past midnight and slept a few hours at the intersection of the Loowit trail with the Ape Canyon trail. Past 1am I woke up to the sound of footsteps. I spotted a late-night runner who was probably training for one of the upcoming Bigfoot races.

Well before sunrise I made my way to Windy ridge and started the long slog on the road to the Bear Meadow trailhead, where I would join the Boundary trail #1.

The Boundary trail is no fun: deeply rutted because of the motocross bikes, interminable forests, endless rolling hills, very limited views. All I wanted was to get to my resupply at NF 90 as quickly as possible. But that was easier said than done. The only thing that kept me going was the prospect of a beer that I had stashed in the cache. I finally got there at 2:30am, rolled out my tarp, sipped the beer, and fell into a dark and dreamless sleep for a few hours.

The next morning I headed up on the Riley Camp trail and connected over to the PCT on the Riley South trail so I wouldn’t have to do an out-and-back when I finished the Mt. Adams circumnavigation.

I reached the high camp on the north side of Mt. Adams sometime in the mid-afternoon. Because the climb would possibly lead deep into the night, I decided to first take a 1-hour nap. The wind was howling so badly that I had to crawl into my sleeping bag.

I felt rejuvenated after the nap and immediately started the climb on the North Cleaver route. I had done this route several times already and didn’t expect too many challenges. It’s my favorite route on the mountain because it’s short and sweet and you’ll very likely see nobody.

The higher I climbed, the stronger the wind got. I had to increasingly be careful that I was not blown off the ridge. It was difficult to stand at times. But eventually I made it up to the summit after traversing some rutted snowfields. It was freezing cold on the summit and I was alone. The views were quite spectacular.

It was too cold and too late to linger on the summit, so I descended immediately. The sunset was fabulous. Only at the very bottom I needed my headlamp. Because it was too cold and windy at the high camp, I descended further down toward the PCT before I quickly set up camp.

Climbing on the North Cleaver route.

The dysfunctional shelter on the summit of Mt. Adams was well melted out.

A fabulous sunset on the descent. Mt. Rainier to the right.

I woke up to thunder and lighting before my alarm went off. I packed up immediately and left for lower ground. It didn’t take long until I felt the first raindrops. Dark clouds were hanging over Mt. Adams. Thunderstorms and rain moved over the mountain for most of the morning. I had to put on full rain gear to stay dry. Little did I know that the lightning would light the Williams Mine fire right by the PCT on the other side of the mountain. More on that in a minute.

Rain and thunderstorms moved over Mt. Adams for most of the morning.

The section through the Yakama Indian reservation was rugged and adventurous. Because the Muddy Fork looked uncrossable, I decided to go high over the Klickitat glacier and up to the Sunrise camp. I was very glad I had microspikes. An ice axe would have been good to have. Needless to say that the going was very slow.

Eventually I made it down to the Round the Mountain trail and continued toward the intersection with the PCT.

I did not swim there.

Crossing the Klickitat glacier. The Muddy Fork runs under the glacier.

On long adventures, it pays off to take care of your feet on a regular basis.

Just before reaching the PCT I met two backpackers who told me that there was a fire by the PCT, but that the PCT was still open. Lucky me, I thought! After finishing the circumnavigation, I headed south on the PCT. There was a big smoke plume very nearby and after a mile or so, a Huey helicopter started to make water drops where the fire supposedly was.

But alas, suddenly I was standing in front of pink tape across the trail. Closure! Now what? I had a resupply with 3 days of food nearby the Williams Mine trailhead. Without a resupply, there was no way I could continue.

I did not want to get in trouble and started to backtrack immediately. I figured the best plan might be to backtrack ~10mi to the Cold Springs trailhead, which would likely still be accessible if forest road NF 23 was or would be closed. In any case, I figured that my adventure was over and arranged a pick-up at Cold Springs. Thankfully I had enough calories left to backtrack for a few hours.

As I made my way back up to the Round the Mountain trail, I ran into two backpackers who had their car at the Williams Mine trailhead. First they wanted to ignore the closure and just try to make it to their car. I tried to convince them that this was not a good idea. They then decided to call 911 to get advice on what we should all do. First, the 911 operator had no idea about the fire. We told him that we see flames and that the fire was indeed real. He promised to call back and hung up. After a few minutes he called back and said there was indeed a fire. He then suggested a search & rescue operation! We firmly declined that option, although the younger women mentioned that she wouldn’t mind being carried out on a stretcher with some hot tea after having already hiked 15 miles.

After more discussion and check-ins with fire and forest officials, the 911 operator told us we were allowed to go through to closure to get to the car and get the car and ourselves to safety. So we did! Except that I politely declined a ride into Trout Lake but instead went to my resupplies outside of the closure, sipped a beer, and went to bed for a few hours.

The night was rather restless, however, as I could see the fire and hear trees crash and explode all night. By the next morning, it had already spread more then 2,000 times. I packed up my stuff quickly and headed south on the PCT, with a full resupply in my pack that was supposed to get me to Timberline lodge in 2-3 days.

The fire ended up causing massive closures all around Adams and is, as of Aug 16, 2024, still threatening Trout Lake. Forest road NF 23 ended up being closed and many PCT hikers had to be evacuated. I spent hours explaining to NOBOs that they could’t get into Trout Lake for resupplies anymore and that they should find alternatives.

Heading south on the PCT toward Cascade Locks was otherwise pretty uneventful. It’s a long slog through interminable forests. The views of the Williams Mine fire on Mt. Adams were quite dramatic.

A Huey helicopter dropping water on the new fire, which was very small back then.

The fire as we snuck by it (with permission!) through the closure.

PCT closure. With a lot of luck, two backpackers and I were allowed to go through the closure after talking to 911.

The Williams Mine fire as seen from my sleep spot outside of the closure zone.

The Williams Mine fire seen from a view point in the Indian Heaven wilderness. The fire had grown massively compared to when I passed it.

Taking a break by Trout Creek before heading up over Table Mountain.

Trying to entertain myself.

After a long slog, I finally made it to Cascade Locks, where I resupplied because I was low on calories. It’s always special to walk over the Bridge of Gods. Since the PCT in the Gorge was closed, I had to detour through Eagle Creek. I think this is actually a more pleasant route than the PCT over the Benson plateau. I carried my own trail magic up to the Indian Point. It was good to have a motivating treat.

Then there was another long slog through interminable forests to Lolo Pass. Luckily there was some real trail magic there, so I was able to sip another unexpected beer that kept me going for another few hours.

Once I reached the Timberline trail, I headed clockwise around the mountain. Clockwise seemed to be better for my arrival timeline at Timberline lodge. The goal was to climb Mt. Hood at night, when the temperatures were as cold as possible and the risk of rock- and ice-fall were potentially lower.

I slept a few more hours below McNeil Point and then headed around the mountain the next day. The Timberline trail was very busy, perhaps because there weren’t that many options currently for hikes due to all the wildfires. The river crossings were easy and I didn’t get wet at any. I arrived at Timberline lodge past 4pm, where Ursina was going to deliver the climbing gear for Mt. Hood. We had dinner and then crashed for a few hours. My plan was to start the climb around midnight, which I did.

I was very nervous about summiting Mt. Hood. A few years ago I encountered conditions that were no match for my skills and gear, so I had to turn around. This time I told myself I would carry much better gear. That paid off. Conditions were super gnarly, however. The last slope past the Hogsback was extremely steep and a terrible mix of ice, soft snow, and loose rock. In addition, it was dark and not quite easy to find a good line, despite my strong headlamp. After some back and forth and up and down, I was however able to carefully and slowly make my up the Old Chute and to the summit. It was still pitch dark when I was standing on my last of the three summits.

I descended immediately, equally carefully and slowly. The fumeroles were going quite strongly and the stench was everything else than pleasant. On the way down to Timberline lodge I encountered another solo climber and two teams of two. I’m not sure why anybody would voluntarily climb Mt. Hood in August. I would strongly advise against it.

After a slog in the heavy mountaineering boots, I was very happy to be back at Timberline lodge, where I refueled, changed into running gear, and left for the last 12 or so miles to finish the circumnavigation at Top Spur. It took me longer than I expected.

After 198:58:11 (8d 6h 58min), I finally arrived at the Top Spur trailhead and called it a day.