Mount Adams is one of five volcanoes in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, it is one of the largest, standing at 12,276 feet elevation. The volcanoes last eruption was approximately 1,000 years ago, resulting in four ash falls and possibly small lava flows from two vents on upper flanks.
Indian names for Mount Adams are "Klickitat" and "Pahto". According to legends, nearby Mount St. Helens was once a beautiful maiden named "Loowit". When two sons of the Great Spirit "Sahale" fell in love with her, she could not choose between them. The two braves, "Wyeast" and "Klickitat" (often seen as "Pahto") fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process. Sahale was furious. He smote the three lovers and erected a mighty mountain peak where each fell. Because Loowit was beautiful, her mountain (Mount St. Helens) was a beautiful, symmetrical cone of dazzling white. Wyeast (Mount Hood) lifts his head in pride, but Klickitat (Mount Adams) wept to see the beautiful maiden wrapped in snow, so he bends his head as he gazes on St. Helens.
