Friday, June 26, 2009

Mt Adam

Mount Adam is by a small margin the loftiest of the hills on West Falkland, at 2,297 feet its no giant on the scale of things but a harder walk than it looks. It is one of the five peaks that make up the most distinct part of the Hill Cove Mountains, running from the saddle in the east to the pass at Hells Kitchen in the west these hills bear the scars of glaciation, sharp ridges, corries, tarns and deep valleys running to the north. Most of the character is hidden, from the south they have a rounded look similar to Philomel or Sulivan and from the north they are mostly concealed by long ridges running to the sea. Running from east to west are Mt Robinson, Miss Robinson, Shingly Mountain, Mt Adam and Mt Donald. Adam, Mt Robinson and Shingly Mt are respectively the 3 highest hills on the West.

Adam is connected to its neighbours by a saddle each side at about 1,200 feet, There are 2 summits, One to the east (2,250+ feet) marked with a standing man and 3/4 of a kilometre to the west one with a spot height of 2,297 feet, Here there is a derelict MOD installation that is still mostly intact though deteriorating badly, this consists of a helicopter pad, fuel tanks, and generator and accomodation units (on my first visit to this peak in foul conditions the shelter this provided was most welcome). To the north of the summit ridge is a rocky edge and a steep slope into a pair of corries and tarns, the ridge sweeps round from the west to the north dropping then rising again to a third high point at about 2,000 feet, the corrie below this prominence is impressive, the back wall falls 500 feet to the larger, northern tarn.

Theres no easy way to approach Mt Adam, there is a well defined but rough track from the north which looks reasonable but is a fair distance from the Hill Cove/Shallow Bay road (I've not tried that route yet) or there is the option to approach from the south which is a reasonable distance from the road but involves crossing some difficult ground, knee high, sometimes waist high diddle-dee, overgrown streams and holes and as you get higher up the southern slopes, steep yet saturated, mossy ground which is a pain to climb. On this occasion Andy and I drove halfway up the neighbouring Mt Donald and walked from there. Once one is past the obstacle of the southern slopes the walking is great with lovely views as you follow the ridge round. The weather was overcast and thundery but blessedly calm.


Looking east from the summit toward the second peak along the east ridge, the hill to the left is Shingly Mt and just visible are the tops of Miss Robinson and Mt Robinson, beyond in the distance are the Hornby Mountains.

North Corrie & tarn from the summit.
Me & Boom at the twin standing men on the summit.
View to the south, Mt Philomel on the left.
Mt Adam from the ridge above the north corrie.

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