Mount Adams summit marker

       At 12,281 feet above sea level is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and the second-highest mountain in the state ofWashington. Adams is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, and is one of the arc's largest volcanoes, located in a remote wilderness approximately 31 miles (50 km) east of Mount St. Helens. The Mount Adams Wilderness comprises the upper and western part of the volcano's cone. The eastern side of the mountain is part of the Yakama Nation.
Adams' asymmetrical and broad body rises 1.5 miles (2.4 km) above the Cascade crest. Its nearly flat summit was formed as a result of cone-building eruptions from separated vents. Air travelers flying the busy routes above the area sometimes confuse Mount Adams with nearby Mount Rainier, which has a similar flat-topped shape.
The Pacific Crest Trail traverses the western flank of the mountain. Although Adams has not erupted in over 1,400 years, it is not considered extinct.
Each year, hundreds of outdoorsmen try to summit Mount Adams. Crampons and ice axes are needed on many routes because of the glaciers and how steep they are. But it is easy to climb up with just boots and ski poles on the south side of the mountain in the summer. The biggest hazard is the loose rocks and boulders which are easily dislodged and a severe hazard for climbers below. Climbing Mount Adams can be dangerous for a variety of reasons.

Between 1830 and 1834 Hall J. Kelley led a campaign to rename the Cascade Range as the President's Range and also to rename each major Cascade mountain after a former President of the United States. Mount Adams was not known to Kelley and was thus not in his plan. Mount Hood, in fact, was designated by Kelley to be renamed after President John Adams but a mistake by a mapmaker placed the Mount Adams north of Mount Hood and about 40 miles (64 km) east of Mount St. Helens. By sheer coincidence there was in fact a large mountain there to receive the name. Since the mountain had no official name at the time, Kelley's name stuck even though the rest of his plan failed. In 1901, local settler and mountaineer C. E. Rusk led noted glaciologist Harry Reid to Adams' remote location. Reid conducted the first systematic study of the volcano and also named its most significant Glacier.