Mt. Shasta on Mother’s Day

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Vaca Russ
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Mt. Shasta on Mother’s Day

Post by Vaca Russ »

Mt. Shasta is one of California’s premier 14ers. It is only a short drive away for most Northern Californians. In fact for most Bay Area and Sacramento region Californians this mountain is closer than any of the other California 14ers.

I think we should make it an honorary member of the Sierra, but some Marine Corp sticklers; zealously dedicated to duty, insist all reports about this beautiful volcano must be secluded away in the “Beyond the Sierra” region of the board. :D :nod: :lol:

My girl had to spend the weekend saving lives in the ER. So on Friday, after work, I drove up to Bunny Flat. The next morning I filled out my permits, slung on my backpack and headed up to Horse Camp.

The trail to Horse camp had spotty snow but was completely covered by the time you got to camp. The spring is running but someone had to dig down into about 7 feet of snow to expose the spring. The path out of camp was completely snow covered.
1 Horse Camp Outbound.JPG
It took a few hours but I finally made it to Helen Lake.
2 Helen Lake.JPG
We will discuss the rock fall you can see in the background later.

I set up my camp, prepared for the next day’s climb and stared up Avalanche Gulch to the Red Banks. The Heart is completely covered in snow.
3 Avalanche Gulch.JPG
I didn’t really like camping at Helen Lake. It was too crowded and noisy. I was awakened at 2:30 AM and just decided to get up to begin my alpine start. It took me a few hours to get above the Red Banks.
4 Above Red Banks.JPG
I took a break and obtained nourishment and hydration before tackling Misery Hill.
5 Misery Hill.JPG
I noticed on Misery Hill I began to be queried from other climbers. “How much longer to the summit?” it was an expected question. Elevation really starts to affect most at about 13,000 feet. They were happy to hear it was just a short little climb up to the summit plateau.
6 Summit Plateau.JPG
I made the summit and proposed to a climber he take my picture with me holding my Mother’s Day greeting for my Mother. Then he and the other climbers could use my sign to greet their Mothers.
7 Happy Mother's Day!!.JPG
I was surprised at just how excited these young men were to be able to send their Mothers a greeting from the summit of Shasta. They were all scrambling to a great picture holding my sign.
8 Summit Group.JPG
I left them with my sign and started my journey back home. These are the summit switchbacks with the Muir Vents.
9 Summit Switchbacks.JPG
Here is a closer look at the “Muir Vents”, so named because when John Muir climbed Shasta, he was forced to spend the night on the summit due to weather and kept from freezing to death by warming himself with the steam coming from the vents.
10 Muir Vents.JPG
To be continued…
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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Vaca Russ
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Giant Rock Slide in Avalanche Gulch on Mt. Shasta

Post by Vaca Russ »

There are some great slopes on the summit…
11 Summit Ski Slope.JPG
…and there are skiers to ski them.
12 Skiers.JPG
Shastina…
13 Shastina.JPG
…and the “Thumb”.
14 Thumb.JPG
Here is a shot looking down from what I call “Microwave Gulch” at Horse Camp. Can you see the stone hut in the top center?
15 Horse Camp.JPG
I discussed the rock fall with a ranger. It happened on April 30th. It was so powerful it registered on the Richter scale.
16 Rock1.JPG
17 Rock2.JPG
This boulder is the size of 4 pick-up trucks.
18 Rock3.JPG
The ranger said a guide had taken a couple of clients along the Casaval Ridge route and he reported that trench you see is over 8 feet deep!
19 Rock4.JPG
This rock fall is so massive it can be seen in this picture taken from Bunny Flat.
20 Rock5.JPG
Thanks for reading my report.

-Russ
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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maverick
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Re: Mt. Shasta on Mother’s Day

Post by maverick »

I think we should make it an honorary member of the Sierra, but some Marine Corp sticklers; zealously
dedicated to duty, insist all reports about this beautiful volcano must be secluded away in the “Beyond
the Sierra” region of the board.
Now now my Navy brother. :)
Very cool TR, did the same route the last time doing Shasta. Helen can be a zoo, I did not like either.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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seanr
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Re: Mt. Shasta on Mother’s Day

Post by seanr »

Ha! I can't shake the idea of heading up there this spring, but knew better than to go on Mother's Day! Instead I prepared and hosted a weekend of meals for five of the mothers in my clan. There were some important birthdays mixed in too. I've had my eyes on a Memorial Day dayhike with an alpine start, preceded by acclimatization hikes on the mountain or in the region. We'll see what the forecasts look like in a week. I did succeed in making the bosses happy enough to allow such a trip as long as weather and conditions are decent. ;)

I had been following conditions up there and heard about the interesting boulder. Thanks for the first hand account!
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