Because, that's another word for sulfur. In 1929 and 1930, a businessman named Wade Dean filed mining claims for the sulfur on Adams' summit plateau. He moved a drilling machine to the summit and drilled test pits, but the quality of the ore didn't justify the venture and the project was abandoned in the 1950s.
Adams is a stratovolcano, with a volume of 85 cubic miles, putting it ahead of Rainier in size (despite Rainier's 14,409-foot elevation) and second only to Shasta in the category of Cascade stratovolcanoes. According to Wikipedia, its main cone was built when Adams was covered by a glacier in the last ice age. When lava came in contact with the ice, it shattered. Constant heat and caustic gasses have broken down much of its rock into clays, iron oxides, quartz and sulfur-rich compounds which were the basis for considering the sulfur mine. The mountain's false summit is 11,500 feet. The highest point is a small lava cone 800 feet higher.
Adams has not erupted in 1,400 years, but is not considered to be extinct.
The original reason for climbing Mount Adams was to get in condition for a Peruvian trip in 2011, which included a brief stay in Cuzco, which is situated at 11,200 feet. When you climb Adams, you are literally walking on water, because of the large snow cover, and in the summer, the ambient temperature over the snowfields is quite warm. I consumed so much water in the 2011 climb that there was too little remaining to make the final ascent.
So this hike is a bit of a grudge re-match. Next year I'll be four years older -- 70 -- and we will be better prepared.
Post Script: Last blog I said I was training with ankle weights. I've since been advised that doing training climbs with those goes against how our bodies work, and I've been persuaded to let my shoulders do the heavy lifting, not my feet.
Love,
Robert
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