Last weekend I did a hike with my wife on the flanks of Mt. Adams. The trail was Bird Creek Meadows. The trail head is about 30 miles beyond Trout Lake, Wa on the SE side of Mt. Adams. We left from the Bird Lake campground and we had a full day of meandering streams, lush green grass, and beautiful wild flowers. None of the streams were large, mostly just babbling brooks… but the alpine environment was steep enough that there were plenty of waterfalls and cascades over rocks. It was truly an alpine paradise. We hiked up to a viewpoint overlooking Hell Roaring Canyon. Unfortunately the peak was covered in clouds most of the day. We heard from other hikers that going up further, past Iceberg Lake and on to Sunrise Camp makes for some great alpine hiking. But this makes for a 12 mile loop with more than 3,000 ft of gain. Since the trail head is a good 2 and a half hour drive from Portland, that would be a very long day. But we think we will give it a try next year, car camping at Bird Lake and getting an early start on the trail… would seem to make for a great hike with the streams and wild flowers down low and some great geology up top.
Here are a couple photos from our hike.
Babbling brook in bird creek meadows
Beautiful water fall
Dave in paradise